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

The Sunsets here are unreal right now!  :)) 

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!!!!

SPLITS DAY!  Me and Sister Crofts! :) Add caption

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

The Sun is out Hoorah!!!

Just trying to stay warm with our FUR !!!!

I just love sisar saarinen.   (We were SO cold.)

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.  

I love the snow!!!! Finally! 

December 29, 2015 Lots of Christmas Fun !!

kaikille:
It's been another great week.
I love my two companions so much and we have lots and lots of fun contacting and tracting together.  We laugh so much.  Laughing is the best.  Sister Saarinen is always so happy and it rubs off on me and I am so thankful for her.  Sister Adams is such a hard worker and is so driven and it helps us all to remember what is most important and how significant our calling here is.  I am so grateful for them both.

Christmas is the best time of year isnt' it?!  It was so great to see my family and talk to them, and I could help but think of how blessed I am to have such an amazing family.  I am so blessed.  The members here fed us a lot.  I was stuffed, but it was yummy.  Finnish Christmas is definitely different than American, but both have positives.  I love them both. I tried lots of new interesting food.  You'll have to look at the pictures.

This week is super short and I apologize.  I just want you all to know that I know that our Heavenly Father loves us.  Each on of us.  He knows us personally and cares about us.  Jesus Christ lives.  He is our Savior and Redeemer.  Only through Him can we return to live with our Heavenly Father after this life.  I know that through Him all things are possible.  ALL things.  He loves us.  He is there.  I know this church is true.

"Enjoy all of it, Learn from it, Grow from it, and Know that it will never come again!"

Cherish each moment.

Make yourself a great week.

Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan

Our Christmas in Finland

My Yummy Christmas Dinner !!  Salmon, pickled herring, pickled onions and mixed veges with a special sauce.

Skyping my family for Christmas !!!!

December 22, 2015 Merry Christmas !!!

Kaikille:
Well another week.  Surprises never seem to cease lately in my life.  It's great!  Changes are good.

We had Interim training at the Mission home this last week in Helsinki.  There were about 18 elders, 5 sister, the 2 assistants, and President and Sister Watson.  It's so much fun to stay at the mission home.  We do lots of training and role playing and talking and learning and crying and sharing.  It's the best.  Well... While I was there I found out-- I will be getting a new companion.  Sisar Saarinen.  She is a Finn.  AHH... I get to serve with an actual Finn.  I am so excited.  So now I will be training both her and Sister Adams.  It's been a crazy last three days for sure since we all came back from the mission home to Jyväskylä.  So she was supposed to go to the MTC, but she still hasn't gotten her visa yet and they don't think it will come for at least 6 more weeks, so for right now she is going to be serving here in Finland.  Her call is to the St. George, Utah visitor's center misison.  How cool is that?  So close to home, so I have lots to tell her about there.  This is definitely going to be an exciting next few weeks.

Guess what everyone.  Dec. 21st has come and gone--- know what that means?? The days finally start getting lighter here.  I made it.  I made it through the darkness.  okei... so it actually wasn't' that bad, but definitely weird to get used to. It still hasn't snowed yet and i'm sad.  I hope it snows for Christmas.

I finally got to go to the temple too while we were at Interim.  It's the first time i've been through a session in English for about 10 months.  That was really nice.  I love the temple here.  Well everywhere I love it, but it's really special here.  It's just so Finnish.  I love the temple and I'm grateful they have one here.  Even though we don't get to go very often at all, I am really grateful to even have one.

Well that's about all the most exciting things for this week.  I'm sorry my emails everyone are getting more boring probably and less informative.  Hopefully those of you who have served missions or are serving will understand.  I love you all!  Hope you have a wonderful MERRY CHRISTMAS!

"And then may God grant unto you that your burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son." (Alma 33:23)

Christ is everything.  Remember why we celebrate Christmas and contemplate the blessings your knowledge of Him has brought to your life.  Remember His life, and His example.  I love Him.  I am so grateful I can share my testimony of Him with the people here in Finland.  I hope you all can really think about Him this Christmas.  I love you all!  Have a fantastic week!

Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan

Fun christmas cards from Sister Adams's Mom.  Lots of fun at the Mission Home! :) 

Sisar Saarinen, Sisar Adams, and ME! :)  I love my companions! 

Selfies with President's Wife-- Sister Watson.  She's the best! We sure love her! 

December 14, 2015 With Successful Planning You Can Accomplish Anything

Kaikille:
This week was great.

We had Elder Dyches of the 70 come speak to us.  We traveled all the way to Helsinki for that.  Long train ride (4 hours)... but so worth it.  Definitely will be a day that I remember for years to come.  We learned all about effective planning.  I really have come to see that when I really focus and take the time to plan as effectively and concisely as I can, we see greater blessings and success, and I feel much more accomplishment for the things that we did.  I'm so grateful for the life lesson I learned-- Effective daily planning will bless me the rest of my life to become the person Heavenly Father wants me to and knows I can become.  So grateful for Elder Dyches.

We had two recent convert lessons this week with our new family.  Members came to both, and can I just say... I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR MEMBERS. They seriously work magic in your teaching.  Their testimonies make yours and the things you teach so much more powerful.  I'm so grateful for this ward and the willingness they have to help the missionaries and for the testimonies that they share with those we teach.  I love Jyväskylä.

Christmas is coming up really soon, and it makes me sad that the Christmas holiday season will be over soon.  There is a special spirit in the air here.  People actually smile and say hi back to you, and they are much more willing to talk with us.  I'm grateful for Christ and the life and light that He brings in to the lives of others.  I'm so grateful to be serving here-- truly an instrument in His hands.  I love being a missionary and I'm so thankful for the things I'm learning and the ways Heavenly Father is blessing me.  I love Christ and I am so thankful for Him.

"For verily I say unto you that I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the light and the life of the world-- a light that shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not."  (D&C 45:7)

Enjoy this special Christmas season! Love you all!

Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan

The Three amigos  FINALLY meet up again after so long... 

These are my MTC companions and we literally haven't all been together and seen each other since we very first got in the country.  Happy reunion! :) 

Finally got a baby christmas tree!! :)  

December 8, 2015 Another Week In the Life

Kaikille:
Sorry everyone... I've not been the best about emailing lately.

This week was good-- but slow too.  We haven't found a new investigator, but we've been talking to LOTS of people.  We're going to find one soon.  I know it.

I really think it's a lot colder in Utah than here.  We don't have any snow on the ground.  It rains a lot.  It's light from about 9:30am until 3:15-3:30ishpm.  It's weird.  But oddly enough, there's a part of me that likes it sometimes.  Thank goodness for happy lights.

This week nothing too out of the ordinary happened.

We have a ward Christmas party this week on Friday.  I think Sister Adams is playing the violin and I am playing the piano.  Hopefully it goes well.

This week is the Mission Tour.  We're traveling on the train to Helsinki for that.  I think one of the members of the quorum of the 70 is coming.  I'm excited for that.

Sister Adams is awesome.  She teaches the Restoration like it's nothing to people on the street all the time.  It amazes me every time how she finds a way to just start telling them the first vision.  Seriously blows my mind.  She is teaching me every single day.  

I love the Christmas season.  It's special here in Finland too.  I am constantly reminded of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  What a special time of year, and especially here as a missionary.  I get to tell people everyday about Him.  What a privilege? A scripture I've really been pondering this week, and probably will continue to ponder is found in Matthew 11:28-29.  It says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."  I have truly come to know that my life is so much easier when I turn to my Savior Jesus Christ for help.  He is there in every our of my need.  He lifts me up and helps me to do things beyond my own strength.  I love Him.

Ponder what you will give to Christ this Christmas.

I love you all! Have a super week!

Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan

We finally see LIGHT !!

Packages are the best !! (Even ones that come late LOL!!!!)

I Love SIS ADAMS !!!!!

December 1, 2015 Happy Holidays to All !!!!

No big email today from our missionary.  Their time emailing has been cut back, so today we just received pictures and our individual email.  She did mention in our email that the weather is actually warmer there than here.  Temps have been about 30-32 degrees 24/7 with some snow and lots of rain and 100% humidity - so it probably feels colder than our weather here in Utah.  Currently, she and her companion are a bit frustrated with no current investigators, so now the search is seriously on for "Finding" someone!  Keep them in your prayers.
This past week the YW of their ward prepared a huge thanksgiving dinner for the missionaries in this area.  This was a real treat!!! Schyler wowed them with her finnish creation of a frog eye salad.  It was a hit!!! Now she has to figure out how to translate the recipe into the finnish language as many requested a copy of the recipe.
Schyler mentioned to her Dad that Salmon is frequently caught there and eaten often!  She is right at home with all the fish and seafood.  That is one of her favorites!!!
Hard to believe she will hit her one year mark Dec 31st!!!!!!!!!!

Me and the Frog Eye Salad--
 Sammakko Silmä Salaatti in Finnish.  :) 

THANKSGIVING DAY !!!

ME.....trying not to freeze!!!!!