Diary of an Expecting Mother

Rakkaat ystävät,

Did you read that right? You bet you did! With the New Year in Finland comes some pretty big changes for me: That's right, I'm going to be training! If you didn't know, missionary "slang" for a trainer and a trainee are parent and child. So this week I will be receiving my very own newborn missionary. I'm really, really excited for this chance, and I know there is probably going to be more learning on my end than on hers. I'm going down to Helsinki tomorrow with Sisar Bunting where we will part ways -- she will go home, and I will pick up my new companion and come back up to Kuopio to show her the ropes. Pray for me (and for her, that poor girl who has to be trained by me haha)!

Some pretty fun stuff has been happening here.

We had a great Christmas week with lots of good food, lots of snow, and lots of awesome members taking care of us. We were with a really great member family all day Christmas Eve. The day was chock-full of wonderful Christmas traditions.

The Roast 

We started with the meal right away, which consisted of a giant pork roast, smoked salmon, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, carrot casserole, rutabaga casserole, Karelian paiste (some kind of roast meet in a broth with carrots and other stuff - it's really good) and a few other things including pickled herring (which I tried and don't like. Sorry parents, I know I'm a disappointment). After a break and a game of Cranium in Finnish, we went to go see the candles at the cemetery, and it was just so pretty. I can't explain how beautiful it was, but I will send photos for my blog.  

The meal

Candles in the Cemetery

The highlight of the night was when Joulupukki came to visit! Since Santa lives in Finland, he comes on Christmas Eve to visit the children and give them their presents, then goes to the rest of the world (he promised that he would. of course, go to mine and Sisar Bunting's families first). He came to visit and gave ua all our gifts, then when he had left we got to open them.

Don't show this to the president!

Like I said, they took really good care of us. I got a pair of hand-knit mittens, among a few other wonderful and thoughtful gifts. We ended the evening (after Sisar Bunting Skype-called home) with a dessert of Glögi, joulu tarts and leftover ham.

Christmas day was spent with a member family that we've been working with for a while. The mother really wanted to make an American-style turkey, so we spent the bulk of the day preparing and stuffing a turkey and making various other side dishes. I am proud to say that the turkey turned out well (if perhaps a little dry) and the stuffing I made was delicious. Plus, Sisar Bunting made a killer gravy, the likes of which I have not before tasted.

The Turkey

The Meal

We also made a point of visiting a couple old less-active women that have no family in Kuopio, and hopefully were able to bring them some Christmas cheer. We then ended the day with another member family who provided more Christmas leftovers and a computer so I could Skype home. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas

We only met with two investigators this week. The first is a big burly Finnish man who is interested, but we are going to give him to the Elders to teach because he won't really open up to us, and we don't think we're what he needs right now. We also met with M who is now back from her jaunt out of country. She is awesome. While she was gone she read the Book of Mormon! We discussed the Holy Ghost with her on Saturday, and she said that she believes everything is true! We are so excited for her. We also met another young Finnish woman on the street last night. She is religious herself and already has a strong belief in God. She happily accepted a Book of Mormon and a return appointment. Her name is T, and I will keep you updated!

I'm sure you all had a great Christmas, and now with the New Year approaching, remember who the master of new beginnings is. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can all turn the page and we can all move on and start fresh. What is a goal you can make to become a little better, through Him, this year?

Happy New Year, and stay shiny!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hillebrant

Our tree on Christmas morning.

All the chocolate we got.

Hyvää Joulua!

Rakkaat ystävät!

We've had quite the week. It kicked off with Sisar Bunting finding out that she had the flu and thus spending quite a bit of time at home so she could rest. We have also traveled a lot, including trips to Varkaus, Joensuu, Iisalmi, and Oulu, to visit people and go to missionary meetings. So the last week was very long and very short and very strange all wrapped into one. And now we're on Christmas week, which will be pretty bizarre but very very fun. Some highlights this week:

- We helped a part member family in Varkaus (we've been teaching them weekly - the husband is a nonmember and the wife has been less active for years) cut out and bake pippurikakkuja, or Finnish gingerbread cookies.  We came away from it with two massive glass jars and a bag filled with cookies.

Making ginger bread cookies.

- Friday evening was our branch's Christmas concert. There are a lot of musically talented people in our congregation, so we had a concert instead of a party. We participated pretty heavily: Sisar Bunting and I both played in a small orchestra (she plays cello), and I was asked to sing a solo (Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, in English) as well as in a quartet singing a traditional Finnish Christmas hymn. It was a great night. Our investigator from Varkaus came with his wife, and we had a less active there, as well as a friend of members whos is now a solid potential. Joulupukki (Santa Clause) also showed up at the end and we got to meet him. Don't worry, I  just shook his hand. the Elders, however, had the fine privilege of sitting on his lap.

- Saturday evening found us in the hospital for four hours. Sisar Bunting took a nasty fall on the icy street the day before and went to get her shoulder checked out. After a brief check up from an ER nurse, we sat in the waiting room for about 3.5 hours before she finally got in to see the doctor, and she was with him for a grand total of about 5 minutes. The doctor said it's just bruised and should be better by the end of this week.

- Sunday night we took a 4.5 hour bus to Oulu. On Monday morning we had a great Zone Conference and that evening we took another 4.5 hour bus back into town. Talk about miserable. I strongly dislike long-distance buses, but you do what you've gotta do, and the Conference was well worth it. The Spirit of Christmas was strong, and I came out with a lot of motivation to better some aspects of my missionary work.

Serving with Elder Coffey. His parents both served in Denmark at the same time as my Dad.

The North Zone

Eating Kalakukko - Finnish rye bread stuffed with fish. It is a traditional food from the Kuopio region.

President and Sisar Watson.

- Monday was the shortest day of the year, and I got to spend it in the northernmost city in the world that Sister missionaries can go to. I'd say that's a pretty cool thing to be able to say: I spent the darkest day of the year in the farthest north city for Sisters. And let me tell you, it was DARK.

I hope you really enjoy this time to celebrate the birth of Christ. The Finns have a really beautiful comparison about His birth. Since this time also marks the gradual return of the sun, they think of it as the birth of Christ bringing light to the world again. He is the light of the world. No matter how dark it can seem, no matter how hard or scary or messed up the world can be, if we look to Christ we will always have light. What a beautiful and precious gift from our Father.  

Hyvää Joulua kaikkille (Merry Christmas to all), and remember to reflect the light of Christ to all the world. Stay shiny!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hillebrant

Celebrating my one year mark with salmon pasta.

Christmas is Coming

Letter received 12/15/14:

Rakkaat ystävät,

This won't be a fancy or detailed email because we are having a pretty tight day. This past week has been pretty good:

-We had a miraculous second run-in with a young man we'd lost contact with. He is super golden. We found out that he was actually moving to Turku, but he said we could give his phone number to the missionaries there. What better reason to call my dear Sisar Ross than to give her a referral?

-We had two rock-solid appointments with M, with some stellar member help. She is moving right along and, thanks to member friends, is really understanding and settling in. She is going ot be gone for 10 days, but promised to read and pray everyday while she is away and really really wants to know everything is true. Real intent, baby.

-We spent a good chunk of time helping a wonderful couple with their daughter's birthday party. They are former investigators, but what they really need right now is a lot of love and service, so that's what we're trying to give them, while bringing the Spirit into their home by doing our best to teach them when we can.

-We went caroling with the Young Women to elderly patients in one of the local hospitals. It was really wonderful to see the CHRISTmas Spirit touch both the lovely people to whom we sang and those of us who were singing.

My only concession to commercial Christmas this year

Those are some of the highlighs this week. Sisar Bunting came down with the flu this week so we're taking it a little easy in an effort to get her healthy and to keep me healthy so that we can really enjoy this Christmas season.

As you go about doing your holiday activities, remember that the first Christmas was peaceful and reverent. There was no hustle and bustle, there were no Christmas trees or fancy gifts, there were no financial concerns or technicolor store fronts or "I-saw-it-first"s. When you celebrate Christmas this year, don't let the commercial racket cover up the cries of the newborn baby who was laid in a feeding trough in a humble stable on that silent night two thousand years ago. It is His birthday. Let's celebrate the way that he would have us.

Hyvää Joulua kaikille! Stay shiny!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hillebrant

Happy birthday to the best country in the world!

Letter received 12/8/14:

Rakkaat ystävät,

Here is a rundown of the week:

- M is still going strong. We had splits with the Oulu Sisters, and Sisaret Bunting and Hubner taught her the Law of Chastity. She actually really liked it and thought it made sense. She was in church yesterday and looked so happy!

- We found out that the sun only shone in Kuopio for a full total of 15 minutes during the entire week of November. We had two gloriously bright days last week, but since the days are so short here, it was only for about 3 or 4 hours both days. But it was the best 6 to 8 hours of my life.

- I ate moose meat for the first time. It was in pretty small pieces in stroganof, but man oh man it was SO GOOD.

- Finland celebrated their Itsenäisyyspäivä, or Independence Day on Saturday. It's a lot quieter of a holiday here than in America. The Finns treat it with a very quiet reverence. We were with a member family for dinner and the listened to piece of music by Jean Sibelius, about the war time when Finland gained their independence from Russia. The piece also contained the tune that later became their national anthem. In America, we know it as Be Still My Soul. These people have such a great love for their country, and it truly is a land favored of the Lord. They told a story (I didn't quite understand all of it) about how once when the Russian army was approaching the Finnish, they suddenly started retreating, and the accounts say that it was because many if them say an army of angels fighting on the side of the Finns. I don't know how entirely accurate that is becasue I didn't totally understand. But this country is really special, and God has really great things in store for it. My Finnish patriotism is really growing. I really love this country. I love these people. I'm so blessed to be here and to be with them.

If you haven't had a chance to all watch it, go take a look at He is the Gift (it's on YouTube or found here: christmas.mormon.org). Then share it with everyone. It has the power to change the world, or at least to bring more peace this Christmas season. Christ is the reason for the season. What can you give back to Him this year?

Have a lovely week and stay shiny!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hillebrant

Once Upon A December

Letter received 12/1/14:

Rakkaat ystävät,

That's right, it's finally here! And is it a winter wonderland in Kuopio yet? Well, actually...no. BUT we did get a little snow yesterday and the skies are actually clear today (for the first time in a month) so it might finally be getting colder. Pray for it.

Some big news items:

-U, the nice older woman, dropped us. She gave us a call Monday afternoon tellign us that she wasn't really feeling it right now, and that, perhaps because she didn't understand all the passages in the Book of Mormon that she had read, she just didn't feel like learning any more at the moment. It makes me really sad that her reason for not meeting was lack of jaksaa (she just doesn't feel like it, which is in fact a perfectly valid excuse in Finland, no matter what the situation, believe it or not), because I know for a fact that this gospel is EXACTLY what she needs right now (not to mention forever), and she just can't see it the way I do. Booo, sadness.

-In a happier category, our lovely young M decided on a baptismal date! She picked January 24, which, granted, is a little far in the future, but right now we are giving the choice to her. Originally we had presented an earlier date in December and she had kind of balked at the idea, so we don't want to push her right now to move it up. The important point here, though, is that she actually picked her own date. She wasn't one of those "I don't know, some time in the future maybe" people. She said she'd be ready in January and picked her own date, and by golly she will be ready in January. Can I just tell you again how cool she is? She keeps her commitments, she prays (with us and without us) and she feels good about everything she's learning, not to mention she is already gaining a testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and the first thing that seemed cool to her about the Plan of Salvation was that we are Resurrected because Jesus Christ was resurrected. So she is pretty awesome.

-We had a lovely Thanksgiving. Our BML, who is an American, provided a real American Thanksgiving dinner, complete with turkey (which, mind you, costs like 40€ in Finland, if not more) and lots and lots of pie. I made stuffing and rolls. The stuffing turned out really well, but the rolls were kind of a flop. But you take what you can get when you live on a missionary schedule and don't have time to experiment.

-We performed our musical number, Savior Redeemer of My Soul, in Sacrament meeting on Sunday, and the branch really loved it. They all seem to be musically inclined in some way (tons of violinists, pianists, vocalists, a cellist, so on and so forth), so they really appreciate a good musical number. I mean appreciate in the sense that they have a "special musical number" every. Single. Sunday.

I've sung this song quite a few times, but this time I really thought about the meaning more than ever. Throughout my mission I've worried that I'm not changing enough, that I'm not trusting enough, that I'm not working hard enough, that I'm not feeling the Savior walking with me enough. But I think we sometimes get caught in the trap of comparing our current self with our future self, rather than with our past self. We only notice the progress we still need to make and not the progress we already have made. I realized that it was like looking at photographs of myself from 10 years ago. When I was growing up, I didn't notice the differences and changes day to day; but looking back over a longer period of time, I really see how much I have changed: I'm taller (well, not that much taller), I have better teeth, I've lost my baby fat, I look more mature. My mission has been like that. I haven't noticed the changes along the way, but looking back from where I am right now, I recognize how different I am, and for the better. I cannot at all imagine who I would be right now had I not chosen to serve a mission. The Lord has been guiding me the whole time, and I've been shaped and chastened and refined. And I'm not even done yet. Long story short, it was a really powerful experience for me as I sang those words on Sunday to realize that they were in fact pertinent to me, and that I am in fact on my way to aligning my will with the Lord's and to being more in harmony with Him.

-Sunday afternoon was the most relaxing Sunday afternoon I've had in almost a year (aka since before my mission). Sisar Bunting got sick, so after church we came home and didn't leave the apartment for the rest of the night. It was kind of bizarre just sitting at home, but I got to finish a couple projects I've been needing to finish for weeks now. And we blew through a couple movies too, namely The Testaments (in Finnish for out language study), Legacy, and one of the District DVDs. Our libraby is pretty limited as missionaries. Let's just say that I can pretty much quote Legacy word for word. Don't judge.

But I guess I really must be a missionary, because the whole evening, I felt kinda fidgety and ineffective. It took me a while to figure out why, but soon realized that it was because we hadn't been outside and hadn't really done anything. At home I love just sitting around for a day doing my own projects and watching movies, but as a missioanry it's kind of freaky to feel like you haven't accomplished anything that day. So that's a mentality I just realized I actually have.

Well friends, welcome to December, the season of snow (sometimes), lots of baked things (at the right times), and remembering the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ (all the time). Don't forget to serve others, to love everyone, and to give your best gifts to Christ.

Also check out christmas.mormon.org and consider sharing it with friends. It's a really easy way to do missionary work over the holiday season. After all, He is the reason.

Have a lovely week and stay shiny!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hillebrant

The Lord prepares His children

Letter received 11/24/14:

Rakkaat ystävät,

Such a good week! It has just flown by in such a blur I hardly remember what happened this week, so I won't really cover too much today. But there are two incredible people I want to tell you about this week:

The first is U, a woman in her 60s and a referral from a member in our ward. The member told us a bit about U, especially that there had recently been a death in the family (straight out of PMG, my friends), but had asked us that she remain anonymous, so we contacted U as if we just happened to knock on her door. When she answered the door, at first she seemed a bit apprehensive, but when we told her we had a message about the eternal nature of the family and that we will live again after we die, she let us right in. She was so excited that she could barely speak coherently, and she told us all about how God has been guiding her life. She told us some pretty incredible stories about herself and how she came to know that God loved her. She told us about how her close cousin has recently passed away and how she had been searching for peace and relief from worries that were weighing on her. I have never felt so much love so immediately for a person I have only just met. We testified to her of God's love and taught her about eternal families, and that she could see her cousin again. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she was so excited to read it that she actually wanted to read more than the chapter we had assigned her. We are meeting with her again tomorrow, and I have no doubt that she will have kept all her commitments. She is amazing!

The second is a young woman, M. She is classmates with our bishop's wife Sisar L, and was originally interested in the Word of Wisdom. I mentioned her two weeks ago when we had our first lesson with her, that Sisar L had set up. The last time we met with her, I already felt so good about her. There was a special Spirit in the room that I hadn't ever noticed with anyone before. Take 2 was just as good. We had the lesson at Sisar L's apartment again, and we taught about the Book of Mormon, which M already actually had because Sisar l had given her one a while back. We talked about the promise in the Introduction, that if one receives a testimony of the Book of Mormon, they will know also that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of God upon the earth today. We promised her that she could also know for herself that Heavenly Father is her Father and that she can have a personal relationship with Him and that he answers prayers. We asked if M wanted to know these things for herself, and she answered without hesitation, that yes, she did. The spirit was so strong in the room just then, and we invited her to be baptized. She said yes! She didn't want to set a date just yet, but she said perhaps in January. Her "yes" was the most confident yes I have ever heard, and we invited her to pray about a day to be baptized so that she could receive the confirmation for herself. She is incredible and prepared, with a super solid member support system. She is ready and she is going to make it, I can tell.

It really was an amazing week, and I just want you all to know how happy I am. This place is amazing. I am so blessed to be in Finland among the incredible people here aiding in the work of gathering the Lord's sheep. The Finnish people are so amazing. I'm so blessed to be their friend and to learn about their culture and live among them. Heavenly Father truly reaches out to all His children all over the world. His gospel is for everyone, His love unlimited by oceans and political boundaries, His mercy unbounded by race, age, or culture. I truly believe that, and have seen it in actuality time and time again.

With Thanksgiving this week (sorry I skipped over it last week), take the time to think about where your blessings come from. Heavenly Father gives good gifts, and all you have is from Him. I am thankful for my wonderful family who supports me, for my wonderful friends both here and at home, and for the knowledge of my relationship to the Lord and His limitless love and patience. May the Lord bless you all this week, and may you eat lots and lots of turkey!

I love you all! Stay shiny!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hillebrant

Zone Conference and new friends

Rakkaat ystävät,

Living in the North Zone is a lot different than farther south. For example, it only gets light around 9 in the morning now, and gets dark around 4 in the afternoon. Happily, it will only get worse until Christmas, and then it will get better :)

North Zone also means TRAVELING. And a lot of it. We make weekly trips to Varkaus, a smaller town an hour away, and Joensuu for District Meeting. Many of our members also live an hour away. And Zone Conferences are held in Oulu, a 4 1/2 hour long train ride, and involves about two days' worth of time. We had Zone Conference this week, and we left mid-afternoon on Wednesday and didn't get back until mid-afternoon on Friday.

Zone Conference was awesome. Elder Texiera of the Quorum of the Seventy and Europe Area President, was there as part of a mission tour. He and his wife, as well as President and Sisar Watson, presented an excellent, uplifting meeting, and I learned a lot and received a lot of inspiration on how to improve and strengthen my personal work. President Texiera shared many inspiring stories from his own mission and taught us to have a baptizing mindset, to never believe that miracles can't happen to us, and to put forth all of our effort until the very last second to do absolutely everything the Lord has in store for us. Very motivating.

As far as the work goes, we found a miracle new tutkija last night. We needed to go home for dinner and weekly call-ins, but we stayed out just a little longer and met this young man on his way to the store. We stopped him rather awkwardly, because stopping someone on the street really can't be un-awkward, and kind of elbowed our way from uncomfortable small talk to the gospel. As it turns out, his mother passed away not too long ago, and we were able to teach about eternal families, gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and set up an appointment, He readily accepted all of it, and we're excited to talk with him some more.

As the Christmas season approaches (Finns don't celebrate Thanksgiving, so I'm already in the Christmas mindset), just remember who we are really celebrating. The Savior of the world is a pretty important person, and we get to celebrate His birthday. Let's not forget that Jesus Christ really is the reason for the season :)

I wish you all a lovely week. Stay shiny!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hillebrant

Seeing old friends. 

"Lift where you stand"

The lakes are freezing over.

Kuopio week 2!

Rakkaat ystävät!

Long crazy week with so much strange stuff happening and so many miracles. Here are a few fun things that happened this week:

- We got 3 new investigators!! Two of them are older, and it my be difficult to have formally structured lessons with them, but we hope to bring the Spirit to them by reading the Book of Mormon with them and singing. We do a lot of singing. The third is a younger man from Nigeria who is SUPER ready and really thinks this gospel is what he is looking for. Of course we assurred him that is is :) He came to church on Sunday (the first investigator the sisters have had in church in a LONG time), and even though he could only stay for about half of Sacrament Meeting (he had his little girl with him and had obligations with the family for Father's Day) he loved it and is really excited to come next week.

- We dropped in on a less active woman to bring her muffins, and accidentally ended up staying for 2 and a half hours while she talked at us about her familiy history, her apartment, her photos, you name it. She is quite an interesting woman, but in a really cool way that makes me want to be her friend forever. We were able to set up another appointment with her, and it was so good to finally establish contact with her. She'll be reactivated in no time!

- The bishop's wife invited her friend over to have a lesson with us. The young woman is in the wife's nutrition class and is interested in the Word of Wisdom, of all things. But we taught her about the Restoration and it was such a cool lesson - she has so much potential. It seemed to really click with her. She prayed with us and agreed readily to meet again. Right now, she's only willing to arrange a meeting through the bishop's wife, but she is way cool and super prepared.

- The Young Women's president held a sleepover with the YW girls (she's 27 and way cool), and she invited us to come hold an activity with them. We played a game about the Restoration, which they loved, and taught them and invited them to read in the Book of Mormon, and they said they would. It was a great opportunity because many of the girls there are less active or on the brink, and it was a really good chance to teach them about the gospel in a fun, low-pressure environment.

Other than that, we have been doing a lot of good member and less active work. The members here LOVE the missionaries and invite us over a lot. I really love them - they are so loving and so willing to help and learn and do missionary work.

I love you all too! Have a great week and remember how much the Lord loves you!

Stay shiny!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hillebrant

We found Ikea - it's just like home!

YESSS!!! They have Swedish meatballs in Finland. 

Kuopio, the City of Dreams

This has been quite the week. Monday evenng last week was the Huhtala boy's baptism, which was great, and immediately after it ended, and we'd gotten a little food and some photos, there was a mad dash to the train station. Sisar Ross had to stay behind at the church with the other Sisters because the Restoration concert started at 6:30, and Sisar Huhtala kindly escorted me to the apartment, where we somehow managed to manhandle my bags into the car, then to the train station where I got on the train with just minutes to spare. Blessed! It was really sad to leave, but I didn't have a lot of time to mope. I got to Helsinki in one piece and stayed with the Neitsytpolku Sisters, who got me off dark and early Tuesday morning to my train. The train to Kuopio was delayed in Helsinki for an hour for technical difficulties, after which the trip lasted 4.5 hours. But finally, I made it to Kuopio, where there was another crazy couple of hours getting me settled in and getting Sisar West sent off to Helsinki.

The work in Kuopio is going wonderfully. We have a couple investigators, but right now we're mostly doing a lot of member and less-active work. The members here are so cool! By the end of this week, we will have had more DA's than we usually had over the period of a month in Turku. The members love us so much and are so willing to help us. Not to mention everyone here is musical or artistic in some way. I just got dropped into a massive pool of kindred spirits. I've even been asked already to do a musical number in church!

The Sisters' area in Kuopio is really spread out (welcome to the North!), so we have a car here to get us to areas that are farther away. One area is out in Varkaus, a little town about an hour away, and we go there once a week. We aren't allowed to proselyte there because it's so far away, but we had a really cool miracle happen on Wednesday when we were there. One of our appointments there cancelled, so we went to an ABC (a gas station/restaurant-y kind of thing) to do language study, and we had only been sitting there for a couple minutes when a man approached us and asked if we were from another church. We told him we were from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and why we were here. He plopped right down next to us, and we had a really long conversation about doctrine, gave him a Mormonin Kirja and a couple pamplets, and set up an appointment for the next time we are in Varkaus. It was a miracle to see how the Lord put us in that exact place at that time so that we could meet this man. He was very interested, and we are excited to meet with him again.

Other highlights of the week include, but are not limited to:

- Prepping for (and pretty much running) the unofficial ward Halloween party at our BML's house, and eating lots of homemade caramel.

- Cleaning the apartment of a recent convert in our ward who just moved, and spending about 5 hours deep cleaning the kitchen alone. It was quite the process.

It has been a wicked fast week packed with more things than I can account in such a short email time. And, our car is parked on a meter, so we have to get going.

But, I really love the work here. I love what I'm doing because I know it's true. This is the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. We have a living prophet and we have true scripture in the Book of Mormon, as well as the Bible. We have the real and functioning power of the Priesthood guiding our church. And I get to share that with the world :)

I love you all so much and hope you have a fabulous week, wherever you are!

Stay shiny!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hillebrant

Caramel apples. Yum!

Let it snow.

Can you guess who we are supposed to be?

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.

Halfway there, Living on a prayer. But really.

Rakkaat ystävät!

I really love what I am doing. I hit my half-way point on Thursday. Can you believe I'm already on the downhill? Gross. Really, I feel like I'm only really starting to understand how much I love my mission, and I know I still have a lot of time left. But, I'm really evaluating where I'm at and I still have so much more I want to do and become. I'm going to start studying the Atonement, and I'm excited for it to help me throughout the rest of my time here to get where the Lord knows I can be.

My week was pretty chill. We did go to Tampere again this week for Zone Conference, which was really good. President Watson spent quite a bit of time going over rules and it was nice to have clarification on various things that to me had been a bit fuzzy. We also talked a lot about "Hastening the Work," or how we can be better instruments in the Lord's hands as we help bring souls unto Christ. AKA: missionary work. How do we do it more effectively? We went over the five aspects of the work: Retention of new members, Reactivation of less-active members, Temple and Family History work, Member missionary work, and Teaching (that's us!).Then, we discussed each one and brainstormed ideas of how we can keep work going in all areas. It was a really good meeting. 

We've been in a lot of meetings recently, which means a lot of sitting in pews or uncomfortable chairs. As great as all the meetings were, I'm grateful the wave has passed for the time being. As Elder Bednar told us, "The mind and heart can only receive what the rear end can endure!"

It has also been a faith-building week in other ways as well. Sisar Ross and I decided that it was time to put the majority of our investigators in the Lord's hands for a while, and that's taking a lot of faith.  Especially since our pool is now down to two investigators, the young daughters of a woman in our ward. There was one young woman that was particularly difficult for me to let go. She's Latvian, a really great woman, with a very deep-thinking mind, and I've been working with her since I got to Finland. But it became apparent this week that she was not ready to progress when she pretty much said outright that she didn't want to change. It broke my heart that she just didn't want to understand, and it was really hard for me. But, even though she isn't ready now, I know that having the faith to let her go will give her the chance in the future to keep learning. Besides, the Lord is a far better caretaker than I am.

We've been doing a lot of contacting this week, and following up on old potentials. We've been doing more Area Book work, and there are potential investigators in there from 10 years ago! We are slowly, but surely, making our way through that list and organizing it, because there are also a lot of names on that list that belong to the other ward. So, we've been condensing and dividing the lists between the wards, and starting to follow up on the names of people in our ares. Nothing has really come of it yet, but we've really only scratched the surface. There is so much potential here!

Saturday we experienced a cool miracle. We had an appointment at 3 PM in Varissuo, and another at 4 PM in Lauste, which are neighboring areas, but still a good amount of travel time apart. We wanted to do a little contacting in Varissuo before our appointment there, but the night before in planning Sisar Ross felt impressed that we should go to Lauste first, then to Varissuo, then back to Lauste, and even though it didn't make any sense, we acted on it. While in Lauste, we went to visit a former, whom we had had an appointment with in the past that had gotten cancelled, and we'd lost contact. She wasn't home when we knocked, and we tried a couple more doors, then decided to move on. Right as we were getting out of the elevator, however, in came this woman! We talked for a minute, then she invited us to come up to her apartment! We happily agreed, and ended up having a great conversation with this awesome woman, and she even asked if we could pray for her sister, which means she trusts us and recognizes what our purpose is. Way cool experience! I just think how absolutely perfectly timed it all was. IF we hadn't gone to that area, if we hadn't tried more doors, if we had taken the stairs instead of the elevator...all of it just fell into place so that we could be coming out of the elevator at the exact same time that this woman was coming in. What a miracle. The Lord has His hand in this work!

I hope you all have a lovely week and look for the touches of the Lord's hand in your lives!

Stay shiny!

Rakkaudella, 

Sisar Hillebrant

Enjoying the last days of the Finnish summer