Pictures !!!!! 4/21/15

Sister Jordan and Sister Seegmillar

Sisar Jordan's encouragement to eat healthier!!!!

Beautiful Lake near Pres Watson's home - We stayed there for three days for Interim Training!

Beautiful Lake near Mission Home - We went for a run one morning!

Great Day @ the Helsinki Temple

Escalators !  WOW!!! they are something here!

Super long escalator rides here!

Just goofin' off

Helsinki Temple

Beach at Espoo

Very Long Bus ride to Tampere for Zone conference - I am way back left side!

Goodbye to Sis. Thayne

This one is for Jake.....I tried his chocolate or what I
think is what he was talking about.

Look what we found twinkies and oreos, but hmmm do
I miss American Oreos!!!!!

Normal clothes!!!!!   LOL!!!!

Flash mob downtown Helsinki

Tuesday April 21, 2015

Dear Everyone:

It's been a really long week since I wrote about everything, so unfortunately, a lot of things will have to wait until I get home... Let's just hope I wrote them in my journal.  So first off, we had Zone Conference in Tampere this last Saturday.  It was with our Zone as well as the Tampere Zone.  We had to get up at 2:30am to make it there on time.  Elder Nielson of the Seventy came and spoke to us.  He served his mission here about the same time as President Watson, and it was really cool to be able to here from him.  He talked a lot about the enabling and redeeming powers of the Atonement.  I think it was definitely something all of us needed to hear as missionaries.  I really loved the talks that both he and his wife gave.  

On sunday just barely, me and my companion actually sang in church... can you believe it... Me... I sang in church not in a big group of people either haha.  It actually went really well.  Also crazy exciting news-- We had three investigators in church on Sunday.  We weren't even expecting one of them to come, but on the way to church he called us and said hey I want to come to church today, could you find me a ride.  It was so awesome and it just made it even better that we were able to sing in church too!! It was a really great day!! 

So really funny story for the week...

We were walking home from an old ladies home that we had gone to visit on Sunday night.  On the way home, we passed this old man and said Hi to him.  He stopped and started talking to us, so we stopped to listen.  He was speaking somewhat unintelligible Finnish, but we tried to understand him as best we could.  We explained who we were and talked with him for just a little while.  Then we gave him a pass a long card and explained when church was each sunday and that he was welcome to come.  Then Sister Seegmiller went to shake his hand and just as she did, I saw it coming... He totally lifts her hand and plants a really gross kiss on it.  It was even more gross because he had been drinking and he was just really drunk and he was an old man.  So I of course was not going to shake his hand, but then he reached for my hand, so not wanting to be rude I just let him, but luckily I had left my glove on.  He just was really puzzled about why my hand felt the way it did.  He just kept saying, "oi ihana tyttöjä, ihana.." haha which just pretty much means oh wonderful girls in english.  It was really funny and we laughed the whole way home.  

We've been able to do a lot of service for members in the ward this week as well as a new family who moved into the ward, but are not members.  We are hoping that with time and through example, we can hopefully help them decide to be baptized.  They are a really awesome family! 

We have a new investigator this week, and we are really super hopeful about him.  He investigated about two years ago and has kept in touch with those Elders all this time, but he just doesn't have a lot of time right now.  He is really solid and had a baptism date with them, he just couldn't find the time to keep commitments and to do everything he knew he should.  Hopefully this time will be the key and he will feel something that will change everything for him.  We are praying lots and staying really hopeful! 

The weather is crazy.  It just keeps getting more and more light each day!! The sun is shining more and I am just really happy that we are seeing blue sky now.  It will be really weird when it is the sun is shining all the time.  I am really grateful that the weather is warming up though.  

Well there is so much to tell you, but only time for that for now!! I hope that everyone is doing well and I love you all so much! Thank you for all that you do and for keeping me in your prayers and well as taking the time to email me! I love you all! Have the best week ever!! 

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Jordan 

April 12, 2015 NOTICING THE SMALL MIRACLES

Kaikille:

Yet another week down here, crazy to think I've almost been here 6 weeks.  I'm pretty sure I say that every week but it's true.  This week there wasn't tons that happened but there were small miracles that I am so grateful for.  

The sun just keeps shining more and more each day.  We go to bed at 10:30pm and the sky is still somewhat blue, and we wake up at 6:15am and by about 7am it's completely light outside.  It's crazy! The other morning we went for a run and we found this really cool path that led to this ghetto dock that went out into the ocean.  We sat there for a while and just enjoyed everything.  It's crazy, but the ocean looks like this huge like lake here that is intermingled with bits of land and islands that are covered in nothing but pine trees and little quaint houses.  The water isn't like your normal crystal blue either.  It's really weird, but super beautiful.  I am getting more and more excited for summer to come.  

I want to tell you just about one small miracle this week.  We have a recent convert who has been pretty close with the Sister's here.  He has been a member for about 5 months now.  He has really been struggling as of late, and about two weeks ago, we had a lesson with him, and he told us how he doesn't even believe God is there anymore or if he even believed everything in the first place.  He said he just didn't really think the church was for him.  It seriously broke our heart because we are really close with him.  Even me since coming here.  That night I felt I needed to share how much he had helped me and impacted me since being here, and was a big part of the reason I found something to be happy with even my first day here, when I met him and we taught him that night.  I also told him that if he hadn't have become a member of the church, I wouldn't have had that support.  I told him that I knew God has a hand in each of our lives, and that trials and opposition as well as people are placed in our lives for a specific reason.  I didn't know exactly why I shared that that night, and even after the lesson, I didn't feel it had helped.  

That night, me and my companion walked home crushed, not knowing where to go from there.  I told her that I felt like we didn't need to force the gospel on him anymore.  He would have to come to know that it was true on his own.  I felt like we just needed to be his friend and show him support.  So maybe some people would beg to differ, but we did just that.  One night, we went and got him and just went for a walk and just talked about everyday things.  Then one night, we went and ate Kebab with him, and we tried to text him every few days just to see how the day was going.  We would text him on Sunday and just say we would save him a seat at church.  We did this for about two weeks and on about Monday, we received a text from him saying that he for some reason felt like he should have a schedule him a  lesson and that he loved us.  So of course, we were so happy.  That night planning, we felt we should do something different.  Not a lot of the members knew what was going on with him, and we didn't think he wanted everyone to know, so it would be hard to have a lesson that was super helpful because they didn't know everything he was feeling, so we decided to have a lesson in English, because he speaks both, even though most of our lessons are in Finnish, and he talks to us in both.  We decided to have it with Sister Humphrey's- an American mom here that we absolutely love.  We decided to have it at the church and that just like any new investigator, we would start with the Restoration.  As we started to talk about this, we shared some experiences about lessons with investigators and eventually the conversation pretty much turned to him teaching us... haha.  But these were his words specifically to us that night "Because of what you told me that night we had our last lesson, and that you've just been my friend and supported me, you've give me a reason to keep coming back and to keep holding on, and that's why I'm here tonight... you may have just saved me".  And then he just went on to say that just like him, we could do the same for other people here, even if it's just one person.  It seriously was like the best feeling in the world.  We were both crying and just really grateful for everything we had decided to do.  We are so grateful for him and his friendship to us, and his desire to want to believe.  Even though it may not seem like the biggest thing to maybe even some of you, it was a miracle to me and Sister Seegmiller, and moments like that are what make being a missionary worth it!  

So just a few other side notes, I learned to make sushi this week, and I even ate it... luckily not the ones with raw fish in it, but I did eat some... I am not the biggest fan to be honest haha.  I also tried wasabi, which was wicked hot haha.  I don't think i'll be eating either for a while.  We had one of our investigators come to church today for the second time.  It was really awesome and we are super happy about that.  We are hopeful, and just hope he continues to come and to progress.  

I am grateful to be here and for the humbling experience that it is.  Everyday although hard, I do learn and grow even though it is hard to see that every day... especially on the hard ones, but I do look back on the last three months and I have learned things that will benefit me the rest of my life.  I am slowly learning to love Finland and it's weird quirks and people.  But I miss you all and love you lots! Have the best week ever!! 

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Jordan      

April 9, 2015 Slight change of plans!

Received an email from Schyler today explaining that she would not be able to email next tuesday the 14th because she would be at her 6 week interim.  They will be letting them email on sunday April 12th instead.  Apparently, this is a Finnish Mission protocol in which they bring all new missionaries back to the Mission Home for a three day training.  Specifically they receive additional language training and help and probably some other devotionals and training pertinent to their mission.  They will do this again at their six month mark as well.

April 7, 2015 Minä olen Suomessa...

Dear EVERYONE:

Well like the title says... I really am in Finland.  Somedays I am walking down the street and I stop and think to myself... am I really here right now.  I am really in Finland on a mission.  It's crazy to think that 5 weeks have already gone by.  Time really somehow moves along.  It's somewhat surreal when you are on a mission in a different country with different people, different weather, different language, somewhat different food, different atmosphere, and different sky (haha).  But I am grateful to be here.

Here are a few experiences from this week:

On wednesday we went to help clean this old ladies house.  I was mortified.  The house smelt like smoke and the floor had crumbs and food everywhere.  The ceiling was falling apart.  There was tape stuck on the wall with dead ants on it everywhere, and there were cobwebs in every corner and every light fixture.  Needless to say, I was not to enthused about helping clean her house.  When I saw the old lady though, my heart hurt.  Her hair was like all stringy and her fingers bent all the wrong ways.  They shook and she couldn't really do much for herself.  She lived her all alone and I couldn't help but think of how awful this was.  Did they really let people live like that?  I was slightly angry.  But we washed her windows and helped put up new curtains and make her some food.  I was really glad we could help, and it truly softened my heart and humbled me.  

Random fact: 

I have seen at least two men now since I have been here that will be randomly walking or running down the street and then just straight up fall down and smack their heads and will be out for like a minute or so and wake up so disoriented.  It's super crazy.  What i've been told is they are really drunk and just like wipe out.  They say it's pretty normal, but I think it's pretty crazy!! Anyways... 

We had a really cool experience this week with the lady we tracted into a few weeks ago. We had set up an appointment to meet with her, but then she wasn't there that day and we didn't have her number or any way to get a hold of her, so we just left a card with our number and told her to call us if she could.  We never got a response.  So on Thursday we decided to go to her apartment and knock again to see if she was home.  Sure enough she was, and she even let us inside and we got to teach her a lesson.  She was really interested and I really like her.  Even though it was all Finnish, from what I observed and slightly understood, she is super real, and logical about things, and wants to learn more about our church.  I am really excited about her, and just grateful that God blessed us for being diligent and not just giving up on her and waiting around for her to call us. 

We also had one of our investigators come to conference with us this week and that was super awesome.  That's about all the time I have to tell right now.  There were so many other great things that happened this week, but this is all time allows for today, so they will have to wait for 15 months or so! :)  Anyways I know this church is true.  I am grateful for the knowledge it brings to my life, and the comfort I receive from knowing I have a Heavenly Father who knows and loves me personally.  I am grateful for the experiences and people who have helped me to get to the place I am now here in Finland.  Although there are plenty of days that are really hard, I think slowly I am learning things and hopefully changing for the better.  I love you all dearly and am so grateful for you! Have the best week ever!! :)) Minä Rakastan teitä!! Moikka! 

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Jordan     

Yes, I had to do the MONKEY FACE !!!!!

And I made my companion try gelatto in an italian cafe the other day!!! It was super ymmy!

March 30,2015 Spiritual Moment amiss the chaos !!

Dear EVERYONE:

First let me start by saying that I love you all! I have had so many awesome moments this week and unfortunately probably won't get to all of them, but I want to share the most special ones and funniest ones with you.  

So on friday we had a lesson with a new convert at the Bishop's house with him and his wife. The lesson went pretty well, and I actually was able to contribute well a few sentences to the conversation and somewhat understood the gist of what was being talked about.  It was nice to be there and I really love our bishop and his wife.  So after the lesson, they started talking about this stuff that we were going to eat.  I didn't really understand all that was being said and my companion didn't really say anything to me, which I think she did on purpose, haha because she knew what was coming...  So we sit down to the table and there is this stuff that looks kind of like chocolate goo.  Almost like brown batter before you cook it.  I had no idea what it was, but it looked kind of like chocolate.  They were explaining that it was like an Easter food.  So I just went along with what everyone else was doing and just did what my companion and everyone else did.  I could tell they were all kind of watching me, but I was like well, I guess this is normal-- just follow my companion's example.  So she put like a big scoop in her bowl, so I did the same.  Then we put like sugar on top, so I did the same.  Then she poured what I figured was cream in her bowl over this stuff.  So I did the same.  Well then she started eating, so I figured it couldn't be all that bad... I mean it didn't look terrible.  Sugar? Cream? Goo?  How bad could it be?  Well while analyzing this... I look up to realize everyone is waiting for me to take a bite and see my reaction which sort of made me nervous, but we all laughed for probably a good minute before I finally took a bite.  IT WAS ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING!!! It took everything in me not to puke.  I tried my hardest to keep a smile on my face and just said (in English) well it's not that bad.  It tastes like really bitter rye bread in goo form in a bowl with sugar and bland cream.  I guess my face must have said it all because they all laughed really hard.  I tried to keep eating it and acting like it wasn't that bad, but I seriously didn't know how I was going to finnish what I had taken.  I guess Sister Seegmiller really likes the stuff so she took a big bowl full and I did the same which was a huge mistake.  Our Bishop luckily knew haha, and luckily told me I didn't have to finnish it, which I was really grateful for.  There was no way I could have finnished it.  It was a really funny moment needless to say and just so everyone knows, the stuff is called Mämmi.... and it is gross.  

So anyways... now that I have that funny story out of the way, it's time for my really super great awesome spiritual experience I had just two days ago on Sunday.  So the day started out like this:  We did studies for a bit in the morning and then headed to church.  I was already irritated by the time we got to church because my companion has well a really hard time getting out of the house so we make it places on time haha but I love her regardless.  Anyways... so we got to church and I got asked to say the closing prayer in sacrament meeting.  I was a bit nervous, but it was all good.  Church went pretty well, and I volunteered us to sit in primary with a new convert's daughters because they won't stay in there.  It was pretty fun sitting with the little kids and singing Finnish primary songs. haha but Anyways... church got over and we went home and finnished our studies.  Then we had dinner and set out for an older ladies house in the ward, which we go and visit every week.  Neither one of us were paying attention at the metro station and accidentally got on the bus to go to Vuosaari instead of Mellunmäki.  So we ended up being a half hour late for our lesson and visit with her.  It was really frustrating.  Then we finally left there and I thought Sister Seegmiller knew where we were going to get to this new investigators house.  He is like our first real Finnish speaking investigator and we were really excited for the lesson.  Well we started wandering around and I soon came to find out she really didn't know where we were going like she said she did, and how was I supposed to know where to go...  So We like went in a complete circle and by this time we were already supposed to be at our lesson and the Bishop's wife would have been waiting for us.  We were completely in the wrong area and in order to get to his house, we would have to walk about 10 minutes to the metro station and then ride it back to Itäkeskus and then on the other metro to Vuosaari.  And then, take a bus from there to get to his house.  Needless to say... we were going to be completely late for this first lesson with this investigator.  It was cold and rainy and I was just really frustrated with Sister Seegmiller.  And frustrated with the situation.  Finally we got a hold of the Bishops wife and she said she would pick us up at the Itäkeskus metro station and take us to his house from there which would save us a ton of time.  So we called the man and luckily he was really patient and just said it was fine because he would be home the rest of the evening.  Our walk back to the metro and on the metro was dead silent.  I know Sister Seegmiller was frustrated and I wasn't really sure if maybe she was with me too, but I couldn't think of anything I could have done to cause that because how was I supposed to know where to go.  I tried to help as best I could and make decisions on the crunch time we had.  Anyways... we got to his house finally and we were just both I think really feeling awful going into this lesson.  When he opened the door, it was not the kind of man I was expecting.  He had long hair that was in bun in the back of his head, and tattoos on his arms, and earrings, and there were some big dogs barking in his apartment, and it wreaked like smoke.  Needless to say, I was really hesitant and probably judged too quickly.  I wasn't really sure what to think.  But we walked in and started taking our stuff of, and all the sudden this huge feeling of love and forgiveness and gratitude and sympathy for my companion came over me and I just turned her toward me before we walked into the living room and I just said, I love you and it's okay we got lost tonight.  Everything is okay! So we walked in there and well the short version of this story is this: I have never felt so much love towards someone I don't know at all before.  There was something so different about this man.  I seriously didn't know what he said and I understood really nothing of the lesson and I didn't say a whole lot, but I know that halfway through the lesson, I was prompted to share a scripture.  I turned to my companion and told her and we ended up reading a few verses in Alma 32 about having a desire to believe.  It was so weird when we walked out of the lesson and we finally were by ourselves in the metro station.  We walked in silence for probably about 3 minutes when finally we started talking.  We seriously were both so amazed.  I told her about how I hadn't understood anything of the lesson and just had felt prompted to share that scripture.  She told me how perfect the scripture had been and the timing of it too.  It was crazy though... Here we were both so frustrated with everything and we get to this man's house and we both just felt the spirit so strongly.  We both told of our feelings that night and we were both in tears on the metro ride and walk home.  We hugged pretty hard and I just was so grateful.  I am really hopeful of this man and I am grateful for the experience we both had and the way the Lord answered our prayers and for his tender mercies and the way he looks out for us and blesses us.  I am grateful for my companion and her testimony and faith.  I am grateful for the chance I had to follow the spirit and even though Finnish is still really a struggle right now, Heavenly Father provides us with other ways to help us share what we know and believe sometimes.  He is always watching out for us and cares about us and wants to help us. 
I have just had the most awesome week and I am grateful for the chance I have to teach people while learning and growing on my own as well! I love you all so much! 

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Jordan