5/5/15 Silly Picture

Okay .....We are really werd I know, but hey we are having fun !!!!

5/5/15 "Kaikille" For Everyone !!!

Kaikille:

This week wasn't the most effective or succesful in terms of missionary work with new investigators or really investigators we already had.  Almost all of our lessons fell through or they just weren't able to find time to meet with us.  We did quite a bit of contacting and tracting, but people just kept saying "Ei, Kiitos!"  It's really frustrating, but I guess we just keep trying.  

So there are actually quite a few funny missionary moments this week.  First one was when we were tracting the other day.  We had decided to go find this potential from the area book.  We got to his house, and we got about to the door, and then I just didn't feel like we knew exactly what we were going to say and we weren't prepared, so we walked back from his door just a little ways... like in the driveway and started talking about exactly what we wanted to say.  We were there for about 3 minutes when all the sudden above us on the balcony, a door opens and out walks this man.  So of course, we are standing there looking stupid, so we just ask if he is the man we were looking for and he says yes.  Then he decides to go back inside and down the steps to come out and talk with us.  He just mostly said that he is Lutheran (like they all claim to be here) and really faithful as well as his wife and not interested in joining a different religion, but he really appreciates all that we do here and respects our religion.  It was just really funny, because i'm sure he was really confused as to why these two girls dressed like nuns with name tags we standing in front of his house plotting.  We laughed for a while afterwards.  

This week was a holiday called Vapuu.  It's kind of like our labor day in America, except people get REALLY drunk.  We have this rule on certain holidays that we can be outside or proselyting unless we have a scheduled appointment we need to get to, but in that case, we just have to go straight there and can't talk to anyone.  So on thursday, from 6pm-9pm, we couldn't be outside and also ALL day friday.  It's kinda crazy.  So we tried to schedule appointments, but ended up just being scheduled to go to members homes.  Onfriday, we went to an old lady which we visit each week and we had this traditional Vapuu drink called Sima and some like funnel cake things.  So sima can be bought without alcohol and we asked her and she claimed she got the non-alcoholic kind, but then sister seegmiller was looking at the bottle when she walked out of the room after we had drunk 2 glasses full, and it said .8% alcoholic.  So... well hopefully I will be forgiven!! 

So I guess the last thing I will tell you for this week is that we had transfer calls on Saturday morning.  I guess I had a feeling in my heart that this was going to happen, but didnt' want to believe it.  Sister Seegmiller will be leaving Marjaniemi and going to Espoo.  I will be getting a new companion named Sister Forrest.  She has been training sister Hermann who was in the MTC with me.  I really love both of them, and I am just SO excited to be companions with her.  When they stayed overnight with us before Zone Conference I was talking with her and she had said, I hope that we get to be companions sometime, which in my head I was thinking the same exact thing, because I really like her, and what do you know... we are!! I am really excited!! BUT... I also have had a really hard time accepting that Sister Seegmiller is leaving.  At first I was honestly a little hesitant and I struggled with her at first, and didnt think I would really come to love her this much.  I love that woman so so much and I really don't want her to go! I have learned so much from her and it feels like saying bye to your family all over again! It really hurts! She is going to train again and I am really excited for her! I am excited for a new transfer and all the adventures that are awaiting! I am so grateful to be here in this sacred and special place... it truly is! I am grateful for the people here, especially the members! They will forever hold a special place in my heart! Thank you all for you love and support weekly and daily! I love you all!!!! Have the best week ever! 

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Jordan

4/28/15 Just Another Week in Suomi !!!

Really Bored!!!!!

BOO !!!!

Waiting and more waiting!!!!  

Dear Everyone:

This week wasn't the most exciting, but we were able to do a lot of service for some members in the ward.  We cleaned a lot of Mother's homes, which was good practice for the future I guess, and we were able to have some really awesome lessons with investigators.  

So the first one... We haven't been able to meet with one of our investigators for about a week and a half now.  He has been the most promising one, and so it has been quite frustrating.  We understand that he is pretty busy - so we just prayed and hoped that we would be able to have a lesson and that it would go as we had planned.  Long story short, he is praying about a baptism date for June 6th.  We are hopeful that it can happen.  I am so excited.  He really believes and has the cutest little boy.  He is from Nigeria and he is just such a sweet man.  He has really opened up to us over the course of the last 8 weeks.  I am just so excited for him and for the adventure that is hopefully about to take place in his life.  We have another lesson (hopefully) with him tonight and we will find out what the verdict is on his praying about this baptism date.  If it all works out, we will have a lot of teaching to do in the next few weeks.  I am really hoping that neither Sister Seegmiller nor I get transferred this time because everything just seems to be booming all the sudden.  I guess that's the way it works though, just when everything starts to be amazing, God has another plan in mind.  I hope that I can be patient with whatever that may be. 

So the funny story for the week.  We were able to eat at a member's home the other afternoon.  Their home is always our favorite to go to.  They are an older couple in the ward who we just adore.  I hope that one day when I am cute and old, that my husband will take such good care of me.  They always hold hands, and he puts her shoes on, and coat and scarf and just takes such good care of her.  She also makes the most delicious food every time we go there. Both speak really great English and Finnish, so the husband is always able to help us with our Language studies and give us lots of tips.  It's really helpful.  They are also the ones who are letting us come over to skype at their house on Mother's Day, and I think also feeding us.  We are so excited.  Anyways... we were at their house for lunch, and they were feeding us this most amazing salmon (my favorite) and we were talking about weird words in Finnish and the husband starts telling us about Sweden.  He says how they have all these tunnels and the signs always say "infart" or "outfart" for Entrance and Exit.  Then we start laughing and then he says, "How do you infart?" haha me and sister seegmiller couldn't do anything but just laugh.   It was just so funny.  I really love them so much and I hope that I will continue to get to spend more time with them, and learn from their examples.  

We planned a family home evening with a family in the ward and this new family that lives right next to the church but are not members.  Luckily the missionaries as well as a lot of the members have fellow shipped them, and this last sunday, their whole family was in church.  We had a really awesome family home evening and played soccer and had treats afterwards.  We may be going to their house this week to clean again like we did this week, and hopefully have a lesson with them this week.  We are hoping that they seriously start investigating the church.  They already are such an awesome Finnish family and they would make the most awesome members.  A lot of the father's studies right now are on aspects of the family, and he is really interested in what our church believes and about our family dynamics.  I really think that they will be baptized one day.  Hopefully we can make that happen!! 

There was so many great things that happened this week, and I am getting to know the members better and better.  It rained quite a bit this week and was colder than it has been, but it just means that everything just keeps getting greener and greener.  There is a little forest path in between our apartment and the church and since I have been here, it has been really neat to see it go from just dead to all these green plants and moss on the rocks everywhere.  It really does look like off the movie Frozen in the summertime.  I am just so excited for it to be warm here.  

Well that's about all for this week!! I hope you all are doing well and I miss and love all of you so much! Have the best week ever!!! 

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Jordan