Rakas ystäviä!
We had a pretty good week! We've been spending a decent
chunk of time contacting, both outside and in the apartment. Early in the week
we decided to stay inside for an extra hour or so and dissect the Area Book to
find people to contact. We want to do a little bit of that every week so we can
finally get our phone contacts and list of potentials lined up so we know who
hasn't been contacted. Also, we want to have a fairly extensive list of former
investigators on hand to try whenever we're out and something falls through.
It's going to be a process, but really worth it in the grand scheme of
things.
We had a lesson in a brewery this week. We were supposed to
meet this girl and go to the church for a tour, but when we met up in the
center she asked if we could just go to coffee instead. We explained the Word
of Wisdom, that we don't drink coffee, tea, or alcohol, and that we don't
smoke, and the like, but she said it was just a little restaurant and we could
have water. So we went, and she took us into a brewery (which smells really badly
of rye, might I add), got herself a coffee, and when we sat down she asked if she could
smoke. We said we'd rather she didn't because, you know, the Word of Wisdom.
Luckily she was cool with that and we proceeded to have a really good
discussion about the Restoration. It didn't end with her becoming an
investigator, but at least now I can say that the first time I've ever been in
a beer garden was on my mission.
But I guess the real question is, how was my birthday? Well,
after District Meeting on Wednesday, the district had a little birthday party
for me. The sisters in the other ward had made a cake, and they sang and all
that. When we got home, we found that they had also gotten into our apartment
and left balloons and candy for us. My district is just so great! Friday
night, just as we were coming in for the night, the Huhtalas were waiting
outside the building and had brought me and ihan Suomalainen birthday cake! It
was such a surprise, and I just love that family so much! On the actual day, I
woke up at 4am to the phone alarm going off, and Sisar Ross hurriedly shutting
it off and telling me to go back to sleep. Of course I couldn't for a while, and not until after I saw her leave the room. But when I woke up at the regular
time, she had decorated the apartment with banners and had made me a cake! I'm
too spoiled. The highlight, though, was that the other ward was having a
baptism, and we got to participate in that. We made some desert for it, then
helped set up, and did a musical number with the other sisters. It really was a
nice service, and made the day really special. That evening, the new senior
missionary couple was coming into Turku, and we were charged with getting them
some food, and meeting them there with the key. They are really great and we're
excited to work with them. Ended the day with opening the big package from
home, so it was a good end to the day. Then on Sunday night, we made pizza and
had ice cream with rice krispie treats (courtesy of my grandparents - thanks
guys!) and watched part of Legacy. Then today we went to the museum in the
upper gallery of the Tuomiokirkko, which was awesome. The cap on the
celebrations will be on Wednesday when we go to pizza and kebab as a district.
Truly it has been a glorious end to my life as a teenager.
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| Cake for breakfast - it's a thing! |
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| Cake from my District - Thanks Guys!!! |
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| Cake from the Huhtalas |
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| Sisar Ross Decorated our Apartment |
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| A Package from Home!! |
We had a really great District Meeting on Wednesday. Elder
Alquist talked all about prayer and how to make our prayers more focused and
earnest. He talked especially about Doctrine and Covenants 8:2-3, where the
Lord tells us that the revelation we receive through prayer comes from the same
Spirit by which Moses split the Red Sea. Moses was probably praying pretty hard
right then. As he looked behind him and saw the chariots of the Egyptian army
bearing down on his group of over half a million people, then looked back at
the Red Sea with no way to go around either side, and with the Israelites'
terrified screams and exclamations that they would rather have stayed slaves
and that he had led them to their death, Moses found himself in a state of
desperate need, pleading with the Lord as he had never plead before to send a
miracle. And then came the thought, "Go stand in the water and hold out
your staff." Can you imagine the confusion and perhaps disappointment in
Moses' mind when this was the answer he got? Surely he must have been wondering
what good that could possibly do, and why didn't the Lord just stop the
Egyptians? But trusting in the Lord and following this strange little
prompting, Moses waded out into the water, and held out his staff...and lo and
behold the waters of this great sea rose into the air, splitting so entirely
that the ground was dry. No water remained in pools in their path, no mud to
get stuck in and slow them down. The Lord held the sea at bay just long enough
for the Israelites to cross, then unleashed the waters again, destroying the
enemy. Moses followed a seemingly silly and pointless idea and a miracle
ensued. This is the power we have in prayer if we just pray the way the Lord
has asked, then follow the ideas we receive, no matter how strange or scary,
not questioning, just trusting and doing. Miracles can and will happen.
So there you have it folks. I hope you all have had a great
week and remember that there is power in prayer. The Lord loves you and wants
to help you!
Stay shiny!
Rakkaudella,
Sisar Hillebrant
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