Rakkaat ystävät,
Ah, toinen talvi is upon us. The temperatures here had
gotten up to near 10 degrees Celcius, and I had even pulled out my thinner
spring jacket. But then it plummetted back down to the negatives, and yesterday
it snowed! In the middle of March! Well, we are in Finland.
Last week, a friend of mine mentioned in her group e-mail
that she has been compiling a list of little moments that she is grateful for.
Tender mercies, so to speak. I've been thinking a lot about those tender
mercies this week, and so I've decided that this week's e-mail will just contain
some of those moments.
1) Seeing the Northern Lights. For real, we did.
They were faint, so it was a miracle (or a spiritual prompting to look up)
that we noticed them in the first place, but they were glorious!
2) Feeling the giddy joy of secret service when we
washed a stranger's car. There is nothing that makes you quite so happy as
being in the service of your fellow men.
3) E's wife gave us lemon bars, which are one of my
favorite desserts. I haven't had a real lemon bar in over a year, and it was
definitely a tender mercy :)
4) Setting a bunch of last minute appointments with some
investigators (most of which actually ended up followíng through) and
then finding members equally last minute to come with us to all of them.
5) As a continuance of the previous mercy, one member had
not intended to come with us so she could spend some time with family, but felt
prompted to come anyway. We still don't know why.
6) The Melby's held an open house for the branch, and E and
his wife came! They made the hour drive in just for the activity and battled
with their GPS the whole way. But they came, and it was wonderful.
7) I was in charge of egg butter (which goes on the
riisipirakkas) for the open house, and at one point our (very American) Branch
Mission Leader was whining that there was too much butter and not enough egg,
and I said I would keep that in mind for next time. The look on his face when
he realized that I had made it was totally priceless, and we laughed about it
quite a bit. He later made a point of profusely complimenting the rahka dessert
I had also made. :)
8) After doing some service in the evening for the BML and
his family, Sisar Lafferty and I sat in their living room for a few minutes
while they put their kids to bed. A quiet peace pervaded the room while we
listened to them read the scriptures and pray together, and I felt the Spirit
testify to me that this is the reason for the service I am giving - to
bring families together for eternity.
9) Walking on a frozen lake. It never gets old. And as Sisar
Lafferty says, walking on water is just a sign that we are getting more and
more Christ-like every day :)
10) Singing Herrasta ja Kuninkaasta (Called to Serve) at
Zone Conference. That many missionary voices raised in song fills me with the
Spirit. We are here to serve our King. Shall we not go on in so great a cause?
11) Noticing a gentle peace as I partook of the Sacrament
and made faces at the BML's two-year-old daughter, who was sitting in front of
us - she's my little friend :).
12) Realizing I can understand the Finnish scriptures when I
read straight through.
13) Having a companion who understands that I'm growing and
learning, and also that I am, as she says, a little princess (we decided that I
am Rapunzel).
14) After Sunday School, we were standing in the auditorium,
when suddenly I heard "Sisaret!" I look up to the doorway, and there
was the BML's daughter pointing at us excitedly. "Siellä on
Sisaret!!" ("There are the Sisters!") she shouted to
whomever she was talking to. It warmed my heart to know she loves us as much as I
love her.
15) Reading an article in the Liahona (It
Isn't a Sin to Be Weak) that addressed perfectly my current concerns. It's
good to know that the Lord knows me!
I could probably go on and on, but I think you can see that
this week I have been truly blessed. "By small and simple things are great
things brought to pass" (Alma 37:6), and by these, and many other, small
and simple things the Lord is changing my heart. It's a slow process, but
it is sweet, and I'm learning that my Savior is with me every step of the
way.
"Help form the Savior is available for the entire
journey of mortality -- from bad to good to better and to change our very
nature." - Elder David A. Bednar
Stay shiny!
Rakkaudella,
Sisar Hillebrant
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| It snowed again! Hmmm... |
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| But the lakes are thawing. |
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| We traded cars with another set of missionaries, so now we have to put all addresses in our GPS |
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