Sorry i don't have time to write you all more this week.
It's been a super one.
The weather is tropical I tell you... tropical at -5 Celsius. I LOVE it!
Hope you all have a good week! Love you so much!!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
January 26, 2016 Short but Sweet........is the life of our missionary!
Kaikille:
Sorry i don't have time to write you all more this week.
It's been a super one.
The weather is tropical I tell you... tropical at -5 Celsius. I LOVE it!
Hope you all have a good week! Love you so much!!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
Sorry i don't have time to write you all more this week.
It's been a super one.
The weather is tropical I tell you... tropical at -5 Celsius. I LOVE it!
Hope you all have a good week! Love you so much!!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
January 19, 2016 How Great Is My Calling !!
Kaikille:
Another great week down. Missionary work is great.
We had a few more lessons this week. YAY!
These are some of the highlights/funnies/bummers of the week:
TIISTAI-- The wind blew really hard. I guess they say it makes it about 10 degrees colder.... let me tell ya-- it sure did. It was cold. BUT still a great day. The sun was shining and the sunrises and sunsets are beautiful. The snow glistens like diamonds and I just love Finnish winter. The Lord's creations are amazing. We had a lesson set up with a potential investigators, but supposedly she gave us a fake address, because we looked and looked and never found the right one. BUT we had another lesson with a different potential AND we have a return appointment. He was really nice. Gave us all apples juice and chocolate at the end of our lesson and washed his whole house, just because we were coming. It was great. SUPER EXCITING to have a new investigator.
KESKIVIIKKO-- Another NEW INVESTIGATOR. He is a student here in Jyväskylä. Really interested and another return appointment. SUCCESS!! We had all been tracting and contacting for a while and had to go to the bathroom. Unfortunately, Finland doesn't exactly believe in public restrooms most places, so luckily we had a member in the area nearby. When we were contacting later that evening, we saw the investigator from the tuesday night out running. We were stopped talking to someone on the street and he saw us and yells-- hey sisters!! It was so fun!
TORSTAI-- District Meeting. Spiritual thought for the week that I learned from District Meeting--
"By holding fast to the iron rod, disciples will not wander, nor will they give undue heed to the fiery darts around them. Clinging to the word of God on the often mist shrouded path is vital, BUT more is involved than clinging to the rod. Also required is pressing forward, even if one can not always see the destination clearly and constantly before us." (Neal A. Maxwell)
It isn't enough to just endure. The attitudes we have now in life, won't change when we die. So become who you want to be then, RIGHT NOW. If you want to be happy then, then find a way to do that now. If you hope you'll be a more patient person then, then start RIGHT NOW. We can't just endure in this life and expect that everything we didn't fix now, will be changed then, because we "held on". We have to continually be pressing forward. We have to be moving upwards. Up towards our Father in Heaven.
This was such a powerful wake up call for me. I hope this is inspiring to you as well.
PERJANTAI-- Two really solid new potentials hopefully. SUPER AWESOME lesson with a different one of our investigators-- the one that I taught with Sister Allen for a while. She just got back from Helsinki. I am really excited to see where things go with her. We've had really awesome lessons with her this week! She is so great!
LAUANTAI-- Second lesson with the investigator from Wednesday. It went pretty well too, but not sure if we'll end up with another appointment with him--- SUPER DISAPPOINTING. But we did our very best and I know that one day he will catch the wave. We're continuing this week to try and set up a return appointment with him, but we'll see.
SUNNUNTAI-- One of our investigators. The one that came back from Helsinki came to church. I think all the topics be it in Sacrament meeting, sunday school, or relief society were so inspired, because they were ALL just for her. It was great! I really learned from one of the speakers in church, that it's never too late to start. To start on the path to becoming who we know and God knows that we can be.
MAANANTAI-- Zone Training in Tampere. President and Sister Watson came. They ARE THEE BEST! Talked a lot about planning and how important it really it. It seriously determines everything in missionary work. So now, we are really trying to improve our planning skills. It really does make all the difference in the world, when you plan well. Still trying to master that one.
Well everyone it was a great week. I love where I am at and who I am with. Finland is great. Missionary work is wonderful. I am staying warm, and all is well. Love you all so much! Have a great week!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
Another great week down. Missionary work is great.
We had a few more lessons this week. YAY!
These are some of the highlights/funnies/bummers of the week:
TIISTAI-- The wind blew really hard. I guess they say it makes it about 10 degrees colder.... let me tell ya-- it sure did. It was cold. BUT still a great day. The sun was shining and the sunrises and sunsets are beautiful. The snow glistens like diamonds and I just love Finnish winter. The Lord's creations are amazing. We had a lesson set up with a potential investigators, but supposedly she gave us a fake address, because we looked and looked and never found the right one. BUT we had another lesson with a different potential AND we have a return appointment. He was really nice. Gave us all apples juice and chocolate at the end of our lesson and washed his whole house, just because we were coming. It was great. SUPER EXCITING to have a new investigator.
KESKIVIIKKO-- Another NEW INVESTIGATOR. He is a student here in Jyväskylä. Really interested and another return appointment. SUCCESS!! We had all been tracting and contacting for a while and had to go to the bathroom. Unfortunately, Finland doesn't exactly believe in public restrooms most places, so luckily we had a member in the area nearby. When we were contacting later that evening, we saw the investigator from the tuesday night out running. We were stopped talking to someone on the street and he saw us and yells-- hey sisters!! It was so fun!
TORSTAI-- District Meeting. Spiritual thought for the week that I learned from District Meeting--
"By holding fast to the iron rod, disciples will not wander, nor will they give undue heed to the fiery darts around them. Clinging to the word of God on the often mist shrouded path is vital, BUT more is involved than clinging to the rod. Also required is pressing forward, even if one can not always see the destination clearly and constantly before us." (Neal A. Maxwell)
It isn't enough to just endure. The attitudes we have now in life, won't change when we die. So become who you want to be then, RIGHT NOW. If you want to be happy then, then find a way to do that now. If you hope you'll be a more patient person then, then start RIGHT NOW. We can't just endure in this life and expect that everything we didn't fix now, will be changed then, because we "held on". We have to continually be pressing forward. We have to be moving upwards. Up towards our Father in Heaven.
This was such a powerful wake up call for me. I hope this is inspiring to you as well.
PERJANTAI-- Two really solid new potentials hopefully. SUPER AWESOME lesson with a different one of our investigators-- the one that I taught with Sister Allen for a while. She just got back from Helsinki. I am really excited to see where things go with her. We've had really awesome lessons with her this week! She is so great!
LAUANTAI-- Second lesson with the investigator from Wednesday. It went pretty well too, but not sure if we'll end up with another appointment with him--- SUPER DISAPPOINTING. But we did our very best and I know that one day he will catch the wave. We're continuing this week to try and set up a return appointment with him, but we'll see.
SUNNUNTAI-- One of our investigators. The one that came back from Helsinki came to church. I think all the topics be it in Sacrament meeting, sunday school, or relief society were so inspired, because they were ALL just for her. It was great! I really learned from one of the speakers in church, that it's never too late to start. To start on the path to becoming who we know and God knows that we can be.
MAANANTAI-- Zone Training in Tampere. President and Sister Watson came. They ARE THEE BEST! Talked a lot about planning and how important it really it. It seriously determines everything in missionary work. So now, we are really trying to improve our planning skills. It really does make all the difference in the world, when you plan well. Still trying to master that one.
Well everyone it was a great week. I love where I am at and who I am with. Finland is great. Missionary work is wonderful. I am staying warm, and all is well. Love you all so much! Have a great week!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
January 12, 2016 I SURVIVED... One of the best weeks ever!
Kaikille:
Wow it has been such a great week. Transfer week. Guess who is staying in Jyväskylä... Yep you guessed it--- ME!!! It's funny because I was almost so sure that I would be leaving after having been here for a little over 6 months. I think I had thought that I might not like it if I stayed another transfer, but when we got the phone call from President, I was just super happy-- running around the apartment like my normal crazy self. So... I will be staying here with my same companions, Sister Saarinen (the Finn) and Sister Adams (the Idahoan). Sister Saarinen could potentially get her visa to go to America in the next two weeks in which case she would be leaving us, but if not, she will stay for another 6 weeks here in Finland, and because our transfers are 9 weeks, hopefully that would mean she would be with us for the rest of the next transfer! :) We'll see what happens. I think she is ready for the warmth of St. George though--
This week it got down to -30 Celsius which is I think about -22 Fahrenheit. It was pretty frosty to say the least, but we stayed warm enough luckily. There hasn't been much snow, but this week it's supposed to snow some finally.
We had splits this week and fortunately for me, my trainer is still one of the Sister Training Leaders. She is leaving for home this week, and so it was really nice to spend time doing missionary work together for the last time before she goes home. I love Sister Seegmiller. She taught me so much.
Well because there are three of the Sister Training Leaders, and three of us, we decided to all split in three ways, so therefore we could do more missionary work.... well let me tell ya. We placed 21 Books of Mormon in one day. Can you believe that?? Crazy right! It was so awesome. The best part of all of this, is that splits day was the coldest day that it has been so far. I was literally outside for about 7 hours of the day. Definitely had some cold toes and hands, but we did so much missionary work! Wow what a super solid and fun day!
Well this week we got 2 new investigators who we taught both twice. BUT... sad news, they both decided to not keep learning about the Gospel. It was rather rough because I got so so excited, but that's alright. We have lots of potentials this week that we set up appointments with that we're hoping will yield some great results. Tonight we have two scheduled! Also, a former investigator that we were teaching a little while ago who we dropped for a bit, is coming back to Jyväskylä and we're going to pick her up and start teaching her on Friday. Coolest story I think for the week--
So a few weeks back, we decided to go through the Area Book again and just search to see if we could find anyone that we just really thought we should go to. Well low and behold... we found this teaching record of a former who for some reason, no one has gone back in over a year or more. There wasn't really a huge reason of why they shouldn't and so of course we pulled it out and said we would go. Well while on splits, we went to her house and finally found her home and set up a return appointment with her. Well we taught her last night and it was SUCH A GOOD LESSON. It was awesome. So when we were all getting ready to leave I decided to ask her about the previous missionaries. Then I finally asked so why did they stop coming-- to which she responded, "I don't really know." How crazy is that?? I am just super happy that we found her and are teaching her now. It's really great to have some investigators and to be teaching people.
So one last story for the week. We had a lesson with our recent convert family on Sunday and we talked all about Baptisms for the Dead and the temple and committed them to getting temple recommends from the Bishop. Well baptisms for the dead is not something that I have explained too many times on my mission and needless to say, I really struggled for words and grammar principles during that lesson. We had a member along, and I think because I struggled so much, she was just trying to cover up the damage that I had done. And so... needless to say I just felt less than adequate about my Finnish after that lesson. It was kind of frustrating and stayed on my mind for a bit until the next morning. I was just still thinking in my head... wow you've been on your mission over a year now and you still struggle so much with Finnish. I was just sort of beating myself up, which I shouldn't have. Well anyways... later that day, we were all on the bus and I decided to talk to this lady. We showed her one of the short videos of Christ that our church has made and talked about what Christ meant to her and so on. Then we were talking about coming to teach her and what not, and she just was super Lutheran and didn't think she wanted that. So it's just awkward to just stop talking to people after they've just really told you they're not interested, and we still have a bus ride. So I decided to ask her about school and what not. Well that proceeded to her asking about us. So best question ever. She asked if we both were from Jyväskylä. To which I responded that I was from American and her mouth literally dropped about 3 inches with a big gasp. She was like no way.... how in the world did you learn Finnish so well? So anyways long story short...... She thought I WAS A FINN!!! Can you believe it???!!!! It was the best compliment I've ever gotten. I felt a lot better about my Finnish after that! Oh Finnish...
Well that's about it for the week. Glad I finally got to write a decent email this week! I hope everyone is staying warm and happy. It's such a great time of year. I am so grateful to be serving a mission and for the happiness that comes to my life each day from sharing the Gospel. I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I know He lives and loves each one of us. He knows us personally and is there at our beckoning call always. Hope you all have a super week!
Love you lots!!!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jord
Wow it has been such a great week. Transfer week. Guess who is staying in Jyväskylä... Yep you guessed it--- ME!!! It's funny because I was almost so sure that I would be leaving after having been here for a little over 6 months. I think I had thought that I might not like it if I stayed another transfer, but when we got the phone call from President, I was just super happy-- running around the apartment like my normal crazy self. So... I will be staying here with my same companions, Sister Saarinen (the Finn) and Sister Adams (the Idahoan). Sister Saarinen could potentially get her visa to go to America in the next two weeks in which case she would be leaving us, but if not, she will stay for another 6 weeks here in Finland, and because our transfers are 9 weeks, hopefully that would mean she would be with us for the rest of the next transfer! :) We'll see what happens. I think she is ready for the warmth of St. George though--
This week it got down to -30 Celsius which is I think about -22 Fahrenheit. It was pretty frosty to say the least, but we stayed warm enough luckily. There hasn't been much snow, but this week it's supposed to snow some finally.
We had splits this week and fortunately for me, my trainer is still one of the Sister Training Leaders. She is leaving for home this week, and so it was really nice to spend time doing missionary work together for the last time before she goes home. I love Sister Seegmiller. She taught me so much.
Well because there are three of the Sister Training Leaders, and three of us, we decided to all split in three ways, so therefore we could do more missionary work.... well let me tell ya. We placed 21 Books of Mormon in one day. Can you believe that?? Crazy right! It was so awesome. The best part of all of this, is that splits day was the coldest day that it has been so far. I was literally outside for about 7 hours of the day. Definitely had some cold toes and hands, but we did so much missionary work! Wow what a super solid and fun day!
Well this week we got 2 new investigators who we taught both twice. BUT... sad news, they both decided to not keep learning about the Gospel. It was rather rough because I got so so excited, but that's alright. We have lots of potentials this week that we set up appointments with that we're hoping will yield some great results. Tonight we have two scheduled! Also, a former investigator that we were teaching a little while ago who we dropped for a bit, is coming back to Jyväskylä and we're going to pick her up and start teaching her on Friday. Coolest story I think for the week--
So a few weeks back, we decided to go through the Area Book again and just search to see if we could find anyone that we just really thought we should go to. Well low and behold... we found this teaching record of a former who for some reason, no one has gone back in over a year or more. There wasn't really a huge reason of why they shouldn't and so of course we pulled it out and said we would go. Well while on splits, we went to her house and finally found her home and set up a return appointment with her. Well we taught her last night and it was SUCH A GOOD LESSON. It was awesome. So when we were all getting ready to leave I decided to ask her about the previous missionaries. Then I finally asked so why did they stop coming-- to which she responded, "I don't really know." How crazy is that?? I am just super happy that we found her and are teaching her now. It's really great to have some investigators and to be teaching people.
So one last story for the week. We had a lesson with our recent convert family on Sunday and we talked all about Baptisms for the Dead and the temple and committed them to getting temple recommends from the Bishop. Well baptisms for the dead is not something that I have explained too many times on my mission and needless to say, I really struggled for words and grammar principles during that lesson. We had a member along, and I think because I struggled so much, she was just trying to cover up the damage that I had done. And so... needless to say I just felt less than adequate about my Finnish after that lesson. It was kind of frustrating and stayed on my mind for a bit until the next morning. I was just still thinking in my head... wow you've been on your mission over a year now and you still struggle so much with Finnish. I was just sort of beating myself up, which I shouldn't have. Well anyways... later that day, we were all on the bus and I decided to talk to this lady. We showed her one of the short videos of Christ that our church has made and talked about what Christ meant to her and so on. Then we were talking about coming to teach her and what not, and she just was super Lutheran and didn't think she wanted that. So it's just awkward to just stop talking to people after they've just really told you they're not interested, and we still have a bus ride. So I decided to ask her about school and what not. Well that proceeded to her asking about us. So best question ever. She asked if we both were from Jyväskylä. To which I responded that I was from American and her mouth literally dropped about 3 inches with a big gasp. She was like no way.... how in the world did you learn Finnish so well? So anyways long story short...... She thought I WAS A FINN!!! Can you believe it???!!!! It was the best compliment I've ever gotten. I felt a lot better about my Finnish after that! Oh Finnish...
Well that's about it for the week. Glad I finally got to write a decent email this week! I hope everyone is staying warm and happy. It's such a great time of year. I am so grateful to be serving a mission and for the happiness that comes to my life each day from sharing the Gospel. I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I know He lives and loves each one of us. He knows us personally and is there at our beckoning call always. Hope you all have a super week!
Love you lots!!!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jord
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| The Sunsets here are unreal right now! :)) |
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| just me... trying to stay warm! :) |
 | |
| Okay so this picture is super scary of me, but it's pretty funny so I had to send it. Needless to say... I was really cold. |
 |
| My trainer-- Sister Seegmiller. Can you tell it's slightly cold here? Funny thing is-- we were so happy to be outside and just laughed about the icicles that covered our eyelashes and eyebrows and the frozen fur around our coats. We stayed pretty warm and it was just so much fun to be together. :) She comes home this week. Homecoming is Sunday!!!! |
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| SPLITS DAY! Me and Sister Crofts! :) Add caption |
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
January 5, 2016 THE FUTURE IS AS BRIGHT AS YOUR FAITH ........ and a picture !!!!!!
Kaikille:
Well this week your going to miss me writing a lot, but I did want to send a bunch of pictures and also just say how much I appreciate the sun. It's been pretty cold here (between -2 and 4 degrees Fahrenheit) and pretty dark. But occasionally when we're really lucky the sun does come out for a few hours in the afternoon. Well it finally did after about a week of dark and gray. Can I just tell you-- You can literally feel the hairs stand up on your arms and the tingly in your whole body when the sunlight hits you. It just made me really appreciate the sun. As for my thoughts this week, this pretty much sums up what I myself am trying to work on and know that it can bless us all:
"And Jesus answering saith unto them, have faith in God." (Mark 11:22)
"My beloved Brothers and Sisters, Fear Not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith." (beloved President Monson)
The church is true. Christ lives. God knows and loves us. Believe in Him and CHOOSE to be cheerful. I'm trying to do the same. Love you all so much!
Have a great week!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
Well this week your going to miss me writing a lot, but I did want to send a bunch of pictures and also just say how much I appreciate the sun. It's been pretty cold here (between -2 and 4 degrees Fahrenheit) and pretty dark. But occasionally when we're really lucky the sun does come out for a few hours in the afternoon. Well it finally did after about a week of dark and gray. Can I just tell you-- You can literally feel the hairs stand up on your arms and the tingly in your whole body when the sunlight hits you. It just made me really appreciate the sun. As for my thoughts this week, this pretty much sums up what I myself am trying to work on and know that it can bless us all:
"And Jesus answering saith unto them, have faith in God." (Mark 11:22)
"My beloved Brothers and Sisters, Fear Not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith." (beloved President Monson)
The church is true. Christ lives. God knows and loves us. Believe in Him and CHOOSE to be cheerful. I'm trying to do the same. Love you all so much!
Have a great week!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
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| The Sun is out Hoorah!!! |
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| Just trying to stay warm with our FUR !!!! |
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| I just love sisar saarinen. (We were SO cold.) |
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| And this is what happens when you're outside in the cold for a few hours. Your hair turns to ice. I love these two. |
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| I love the snow!!!! Finally! |
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