Learning at the Feet of the Mission President

[Sent 10 Feb 2015]

Rakkaat ystävät,

Well, this last week was probably one of the longest and fastest weeks of my life. Oh, so fast. Like I wrote last Monday, we spent the first half of the day on a bus, in District meeting, then on a bus again. We e-mailed, then got straight on a 4 1/2 hour train to Helsinki for Sisar Lafferty's Interim training.

It was a great three days spent in training meetings, with delicious food provided by Sisar Watson. One of the best parts was getting to see Sisar Owen and Sisar Ross, not to mention the fact that I would get to spend three whole days with them, and all the other great missionaries.

I can't properly explain what it's like to sit at the feet of President Watson (not literally, but) and just soak in his wisdom. Well, the best I can give is that it was both entirely mentally draining (not to mention physically - I would have given a lot to just get outside to work for a little while) and totally invigorating. I learned so much and was given a lot to ponder. Being inside receiving instruction all day forced me to stop and consider where I am in the scheme of my mission, and I set a lot of personal goals to improve the rest of my time in Finland. This mission is the time for me to prepare to meet God, yea even a time of probation... or somethig like that.

Many fun things transpired as well, including, but not limited to:

• Spending time with past companions.
• We got to watch Meet the Mormons (President proudly exclaimed that he has the only copy in all of Finland), which is SO GOOD - everyone should see it if they haven't already. Meet the Mormons will become available to us in Finnish some time this spring, and we will get to start using it in proselyting and teaching efforts (on the iPads that we don't have yet, right? I may not live to see that day...)
• Calling less active members, investigators and potential investigators in an effort to keep our area going, despite being gone for 4 days - something I'm not too good at, so hopefully it went alright. Really just work, but who says work can't be fun?
• Capped off the Interim block with a trip to the Helsinki temple. This was my first trip to the Helsinki temple - doing a session wasn't part of Interim training when I was new, and since my MTC group got into the country late, we didn't even get to go on our first day to see the outside. So I haven't been to a temple in a year. Needless to say I was very excited. The Helsinki temple is very Finnish - lots of wood and lots of beautiful paintings - but it is about the same shape and size as the Columbia River temple (my home temple) so it was like coming home. It was a very special and spiritual experience to be there. The name I took through was a Finnish woman, and I got to do part of the session in Finnish! It was really cool, and I came away feeling spiritually recharged and recommitted.

Sisar Lafferty and I shipped out Friday morning and got home right in time for Weekly Planning, and right back to the normal swing of things. The next couple days were a little bumpy - being away from your work area for so long will do that to you - but we perservered and had some really great meetings with people.

On the investigator front, we had a a minor breaktrhough with E, and older Finnish genlteman who is married to a member, with whom the Sisters have been working for quite some time now. He is a firm believer in the Bible, which is great, but in his case it has been keeping him from really trying to understand the Book of Mormon. We were able yesterday to help provide answers to a question that has been holding him back, and along with that, he has also decided to read the Book of Mormon through and has been praying about it. Also, the ward has put together a Family History class that will be held during church after Sacrament Meeting, and E said he might come! He has never been to church before, nor has he ever expressed a desire, so this is a BIG DEAL. We are really hoping and praying that this might be it for him.

In my Book of Mormon study I've been studying the atonement of Jesus Christ and trying to gain a better understanding of how it works in various situations. Something that came to mind as I was reading today in Alma 20: Jesus Christ is not a respecter of persons and will save ALL who come unto Him through faith and repentance. However, we have to desire to come unto Him for the Atonement to take effect. Without the catalyst of our desire to become like Him, we have no drive to actively use the Atonement. For we must be active; we must take the steps and have the faith and strive to follow Him, or the Atonement can have no effect on us. The Atonement is not conditional on who you are, but on who you desire to become.

I love you all. Have a great week and stay shiny!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hillebrant

On the train to Helsinki 

The temple in Helsinki

Sisaret Lafferty and Hillebrant outside the temple.

With Sisar Owen.

With Sisar Ross. 

What we have to go through to teach the Gospel.

The beauty of a Finnish winter day (when the sun shined for once)

Many are cold but few are frozen.