Sorry everyone!! The computer's internet crashed today, so I don't have much time to write this. I PROMISE you will get a good one next week. Short version of the week though-- I have a new companion. I only have 8 weeks left. She is lots of fun. I'm trying to work as hard as I can. I know God is and will bless us. I know He is real. I see His influence every. single. day. Keep believing in Him. Trust in His called leaders and everything will all work out. I love you all! Have a great week!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Monday, May 16, 2016
May 16, 2016 My Cup Overfloweth
Kaikille:
What a week. I'll tell you about some of the highlights:
So on Tuesday, we got a new investigator. She's a mom that we met on the street a few days ago. We honestly didn't do or say anything special or different on the street, I just know that when we do what we're supposed to, God takes care of the rest and blesses us. So now we have a new investigator which is awesome.
Wednesday, we taught 7 lessons in one day. Talk about running around feeling like a chicken with it's head cut off. Not a minute it lost. It's nuts. So we've been doing more and more and more member splits in order to get more member present lessons and it's so crazy because on wednesday evening, Sister Powell and I weren't even together at all from 6 until 9 that night when we met back up at our apartment. It's like a married couple coming home from work and we finally get to tell each other about our day-- the successes and the let downs. It's so fun to come home and say, "Guess what?!" And for once, your companion can't even guess because she actually hasn't been with you 24-7 and seen and heard the exact same things as you. It's werid though. It's weird to be apart like that, but I'm just grateful that we have such willing members.
Thursday, we had my very last Zone Conference (the one where President Watson and Sister Watson come and do most of the teaching). It was a bitter sweet feeling inside. I just can't even begin to explain how much I love listening to President Watson speak to us. He is a very talented teacher and knows how to teach by the spirit. It's amazing how we learn and the insights we gain just by the questions he asks. I definitely am blessed.
So I guess to summarize the rest of the week and the week as a whole--It's been such a great week. This has been mine and Sister Powell's best week. I can't even begin to describe the love that I have for Sister Powell. I know that without her help or the Lord's, there's no way I would have ever been able to do what we have. She is someone sent from above-- literally an angel. I have never seen someone work so hard before, care so much about others and so little about herself, and desire salvation and the Gospel for others so desperately. I have truly been touched and changed and shaped in such a unique way from the time that I have had with Sister Powell. I know there were a lot of things that Heavenly Father has wanted me to learn from Sister Powell this transfer, but I think the biggest one is really found in the scripture Matthew 22:36-40. Sister Powell understands what it means to love the Lord first and foremost and then to love literally everyone else. I have felt that love so many times, not necessarily by notes or by hugs or by long conversations with her, but more by how much she has pushed me to be better, to work harder, to do more, and to be better than I ever would have been without that. There's never been a time that I knew I could be frustrated with Sister Powell, because she always was trying to help me give my heart to God-- to obey His will and not my own. I know that we've seen miracles this transfer and especially this last week, because Sister Powell had the faith that not only she could do it, but that I could be there helping too and that together we could do as the Lord wants. I know because of her faith and determination and love for God, we saw the hand of God and His power. I think the biggest lesson I learned this week out of everything, was not to give up on anyone.
We have this one investigator. He was found just before I got here. He's an older many about 82 years old. His wife has really bad health right now and most of the time has to be in bed. They have home nurses that come about everyday. At the beginning of our teaching, I just really remember feeling like he just didn't get it. He just wanted to talk about everything under the sun, and it was so hard to teach and feel like it was successful. But because Sister Powell believed that one day he would be baptized and one day we would be able to get him to church, I believed too. But it definitely wasn't without doubt. There were times that I thought maybe we should stop going there for a while, because it didn't seem as though he was progressing much. But we kept going. And then we even started going and helping him in his yard or stacking wood for about a half hour and then teaching him. And we just kept on inviting and inviting him to church and trying to find all the possible solutions. And then, this Sunday, out of any of our investigators that I would have expected to be in church, guess who walks through the front door on Sunday-- Sister Powell's last sunday. Yep... It was Him. He had come! Now I'm sure you can guess just how happy I was. It was just like this fire burning in my heart all through Sacrament meeting to have him there sitting in church. Oh how I had hoped that it would be possible, yet oh how I had doubted and felt that we should give up. I know that God wants all of His children to return and live with Him. I know he does. I know He loves us and that's why. That's why He is allowing and making these changes happen in this investigator's life so that he will be able have that promise of living with God again. I pray that from this experience, that I can learn to do ALL that I can, ALL that's in mine and God' power to help people to experience the blessings of the Gospel before I question giving up on them or not trying anymore.
Truly God is with us. He is so good. I know this is His work, and when we do all that we can-- when we give all our hearts to him, that His blessings just overflow into our lives. I am so grateful for this work and the chance I have to be a missionary. Thank you all for your support and love. This is it. My last transfer. The last 9 weeks. Let's give it all we have!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
What a week. I'll tell you about some of the highlights:
So on Tuesday, we got a new investigator. She's a mom that we met on the street a few days ago. We honestly didn't do or say anything special or different on the street, I just know that when we do what we're supposed to, God takes care of the rest and blesses us. So now we have a new investigator which is awesome.
Wednesday, we taught 7 lessons in one day. Talk about running around feeling like a chicken with it's head cut off. Not a minute it lost. It's nuts. So we've been doing more and more and more member splits in order to get more member present lessons and it's so crazy because on wednesday evening, Sister Powell and I weren't even together at all from 6 until 9 that night when we met back up at our apartment. It's like a married couple coming home from work and we finally get to tell each other about our day-- the successes and the let downs. It's so fun to come home and say, "Guess what?!" And for once, your companion can't even guess because she actually hasn't been with you 24-7 and seen and heard the exact same things as you. It's werid though. It's weird to be apart like that, but I'm just grateful that we have such willing members.
Thursday, we had my very last Zone Conference (the one where President Watson and Sister Watson come and do most of the teaching). It was a bitter sweet feeling inside. I just can't even begin to explain how much I love listening to President Watson speak to us. He is a very talented teacher and knows how to teach by the spirit. It's amazing how we learn and the insights we gain just by the questions he asks. I definitely am blessed.
So I guess to summarize the rest of the week and the week as a whole--It's been such a great week. This has been mine and Sister Powell's best week. I can't even begin to describe the love that I have for Sister Powell. I know that without her help or the Lord's, there's no way I would have ever been able to do what we have. She is someone sent from above-- literally an angel. I have never seen someone work so hard before, care so much about others and so little about herself, and desire salvation and the Gospel for others so desperately. I have truly been touched and changed and shaped in such a unique way from the time that I have had with Sister Powell. I know there were a lot of things that Heavenly Father has wanted me to learn from Sister Powell this transfer, but I think the biggest one is really found in the scripture Matthew 22:36-40. Sister Powell understands what it means to love the Lord first and foremost and then to love literally everyone else. I have felt that love so many times, not necessarily by notes or by hugs or by long conversations with her, but more by how much she has pushed me to be better, to work harder, to do more, and to be better than I ever would have been without that. There's never been a time that I knew I could be frustrated with Sister Powell, because she always was trying to help me give my heart to God-- to obey His will and not my own. I know that we've seen miracles this transfer and especially this last week, because Sister Powell had the faith that not only she could do it, but that I could be there helping too and that together we could do as the Lord wants. I know because of her faith and determination and love for God, we saw the hand of God and His power. I think the biggest lesson I learned this week out of everything, was not to give up on anyone.
We have this one investigator. He was found just before I got here. He's an older many about 82 years old. His wife has really bad health right now and most of the time has to be in bed. They have home nurses that come about everyday. At the beginning of our teaching, I just really remember feeling like he just didn't get it. He just wanted to talk about everything under the sun, and it was so hard to teach and feel like it was successful. But because Sister Powell believed that one day he would be baptized and one day we would be able to get him to church, I believed too. But it definitely wasn't without doubt. There were times that I thought maybe we should stop going there for a while, because it didn't seem as though he was progressing much. But we kept going. And then we even started going and helping him in his yard or stacking wood for about a half hour and then teaching him. And we just kept on inviting and inviting him to church and trying to find all the possible solutions. And then, this Sunday, out of any of our investigators that I would have expected to be in church, guess who walks through the front door on Sunday-- Sister Powell's last sunday. Yep... It was Him. He had come! Now I'm sure you can guess just how happy I was. It was just like this fire burning in my heart all through Sacrament meeting to have him there sitting in church. Oh how I had hoped that it would be possible, yet oh how I had doubted and felt that we should give up. I know that God wants all of His children to return and live with Him. I know he does. I know He loves us and that's why. That's why He is allowing and making these changes happen in this investigator's life so that he will be able have that promise of living with God again. I pray that from this experience, that I can learn to do ALL that I can, ALL that's in mine and God' power to help people to experience the blessings of the Gospel before I question giving up on them or not trying anymore.
Truly God is with us. He is so good. I know this is His work, and when we do all that we can-- when we give all our hearts to him, that His blessings just overflow into our lives. I am so grateful for this work and the chance I have to be a missionary. Thank you all for your support and love. This is it. My last transfer. The last 9 weeks. Let's give it all we have!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
May 10, 2016 A Week of Miracles
Kaikille:
Where do I even begin to describe the last week. I have never worked so hard in my life and just felt completely exhausted... yet at the same time, I have never felt so accomplished and excited to kneel down at night and talk with my Heavenly Father about all the amazing things that happened that day and that week. It has been one miracle after the next. This week we hit the standards of excellence for member present lessons and also for new investigators, in fact, we even surpassed them both by two. IT WAS CRAZY. So I mostly want to tell you about how sunday went, because it was the craziest day of all.
So in nightly planning the night before, we realized that we still needed 7 more member present lessons in order to reach our weekly goal of 24. To add to this, it was Mother's day and it was a Sunday, which meant a few different things. First, that we would have church, which would take out a chunk of our day (of course we wanted to go to church), but it would definitely take out some of that time. Second, because it was Mother's Day, it was also a soft red day or in other words, we wouldn't be able to do any knocking on people's doors without invite. And third, we were going to be skyping our families, so that was going to take out another at least hour and a half. But the amazing thing about being with Sister Powell, is I know that I can always count on her and her faith is just rock solid. So with the help of Sister Powell's faith and determination to make this happen we decided to make all the plans that we could to make our goal happen. After church, we ate as fast as we could and then we took off with a member to our first lesson. It was about a 10 minute bike ride. We kept our lesson to about 20 minutes and then raced off to the next lesson in the center about 15 minutes away. We met a member there and waited for the investigator for about 10 or 15 minutes which put us behind schedule about a half hour by the time we got done teaching him. So we headed to that same members house as fast as we could and started skyping our families. In the middle of each of us skyping, the other one had the phone calling members and getting everything organized for the evening. Then when we finished skyping, Sister Powell headed in the car with one member and I headed on my bike with another member. Sister Powell went and taught a new investigator and then one that we already had had. Then I and this member headed as fast as we could to one of our investigator's houses to read with him. Then from there, perfectly on time we arrived 10 minutes later in Välkylä and taught another investigator. Then ran from that lesson across the street to teach a less active and from there raced to our house as fast as we could where we met Sister Powell and the other member. Sister Powell and I thanked them and then ran into the house and knelt down and prayed as fast we could to be on time for planning. And just like that. Phew..... 6 member lessons in one day, 2 new investigators, 1 referral, and 1 less-active lesson. IT WAS THE CRAZIEST DAY I HAVE EVER HAD. But definitely one of the best. I really thought about it that night as I was going to bed and the thought occurred to me... This is what it must have felt like-- this is probably just a small glimpse of what the Savior's life was like every. single. day. You're so busy in the service of others, that you just forget your weaknesses, you forget anything that's bothering your mind, you forget you miss home in fact you don't even think about home really except for that 40 precious minutes allotted to you, and then it's right back to business. Your heart is filled with love and happiness and you just want to wake up to do it all over again the next day. I can't even begin to describe exactly how I felt that night when we added up numbers and saw the work that we had done that week.
So.. of course I've thought about this. Numbers are not all that matter, so why do I feel so happy. Well I think the answer is really in what I said earlier, that the reason we were able to do those things was of course because of Heavenly Father, but I think also because we were willing to give our hearts to him. We were willing that day to sacrifice dinner for example to try and squeeze in one more lesson. We were willing to pedal our bikes as fast as we could even if our legs were burning, just so that we could make it there and have enough time to teach. Our eyes truly were single to the Glory of God the best that we knew how and miracles, literally miracles happened on Sunday. It has been one of the most amazing experiences of my mission and of course a day I won't ever forget. I'm just so grateful for such an AMAZING companion and her diligence and faith.
So to all the Mothers or grandmothers that may read this, Happy Mother's Day. I know that the world couldn't survive without you. We need you and we love you. I love you! Thank you!
I just want to bear my testimony that I know that God is with us. He cares about us. He recognizes our fervent prayers and in His timing He answers. I know that our Savior Jesus Christ lives and loves each of us. I'm so grateful for this His restored Gospel. In His Name even Jesus Christ. Amen.
Have an awesome week! LOVE YOU ALL!!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
Where do I even begin to describe the last week. I have never worked so hard in my life and just felt completely exhausted... yet at the same time, I have never felt so accomplished and excited to kneel down at night and talk with my Heavenly Father about all the amazing things that happened that day and that week. It has been one miracle after the next. This week we hit the standards of excellence for member present lessons and also for new investigators, in fact, we even surpassed them both by two. IT WAS CRAZY. So I mostly want to tell you about how sunday went, because it was the craziest day of all.
So in nightly planning the night before, we realized that we still needed 7 more member present lessons in order to reach our weekly goal of 24. To add to this, it was Mother's day and it was a Sunday, which meant a few different things. First, that we would have church, which would take out a chunk of our day (of course we wanted to go to church), but it would definitely take out some of that time. Second, because it was Mother's Day, it was also a soft red day or in other words, we wouldn't be able to do any knocking on people's doors without invite. And third, we were going to be skyping our families, so that was going to take out another at least hour and a half. But the amazing thing about being with Sister Powell, is I know that I can always count on her and her faith is just rock solid. So with the help of Sister Powell's faith and determination to make this happen we decided to make all the plans that we could to make our goal happen. After church, we ate as fast as we could and then we took off with a member to our first lesson. It was about a 10 minute bike ride. We kept our lesson to about 20 minutes and then raced off to the next lesson in the center about 15 minutes away. We met a member there and waited for the investigator for about 10 or 15 minutes which put us behind schedule about a half hour by the time we got done teaching him. So we headed to that same members house as fast as we could and started skyping our families. In the middle of each of us skyping, the other one had the phone calling members and getting everything organized for the evening. Then when we finished skyping, Sister Powell headed in the car with one member and I headed on my bike with another member. Sister Powell went and taught a new investigator and then one that we already had had. Then I and this member headed as fast as we could to one of our investigator's houses to read with him. Then from there, perfectly on time we arrived 10 minutes later in Välkylä and taught another investigator. Then ran from that lesson across the street to teach a less active and from there raced to our house as fast as we could where we met Sister Powell and the other member. Sister Powell and I thanked them and then ran into the house and knelt down and prayed as fast we could to be on time for planning. And just like that. Phew..... 6 member lessons in one day, 2 new investigators, 1 referral, and 1 less-active lesson. IT WAS THE CRAZIEST DAY I HAVE EVER HAD. But definitely one of the best. I really thought about it that night as I was going to bed and the thought occurred to me... This is what it must have felt like-- this is probably just a small glimpse of what the Savior's life was like every. single. day. You're so busy in the service of others, that you just forget your weaknesses, you forget anything that's bothering your mind, you forget you miss home in fact you don't even think about home really except for that 40 precious minutes allotted to you, and then it's right back to business. Your heart is filled with love and happiness and you just want to wake up to do it all over again the next day. I can't even begin to describe exactly how I felt that night when we added up numbers and saw the work that we had done that week.
So.. of course I've thought about this. Numbers are not all that matter, so why do I feel so happy. Well I think the answer is really in what I said earlier, that the reason we were able to do those things was of course because of Heavenly Father, but I think also because we were willing to give our hearts to him. We were willing that day to sacrifice dinner for example to try and squeeze in one more lesson. We were willing to pedal our bikes as fast as we could even if our legs were burning, just so that we could make it there and have enough time to teach. Our eyes truly were single to the Glory of God the best that we knew how and miracles, literally miracles happened on Sunday. It has been one of the most amazing experiences of my mission and of course a day I won't ever forget. I'm just so grateful for such an AMAZING companion and her diligence and faith.
So to all the Mothers or grandmothers that may read this, Happy Mother's Day. I know that the world couldn't survive without you. We need you and we love you. I love you! Thank you!
I just want to bear my testimony that I know that God is with us. He cares about us. He recognizes our fervent prayers and in His timing He answers. I know that our Savior Jesus Christ lives and loves each of us. I'm so grateful for this His restored Gospel. In His Name even Jesus Christ. Amen.
Have an awesome week! LOVE YOU ALL!!
Rakkaudellani,
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
May 3, 2016 The Hand of God
Kaikille:
Where do I even begin to describe the last week? It has been an amazing and miraculous one for sure. Maybe even if I might say, the best thee very best week of my mission. So I want to tell you about the best day of them all. It was saturday. I'm not sure exactly why I was feeling this way, but after our lesson in the morning, I was a bit frustrated. I felt that I hadn't taught as well as I could have and had wished that my Finnish would have just gone better so that the investigator could understand better. It's never very good when you're frustrated with yourself, especially me as I've learned that that just leads to one more be-littling thought about myself and what I'm doing until I've driven myself right into a pit. So I prayed and prayed in my heart biking to our next lessons that Heavenly Father would just help me to pull out of this one. I prayed that He could help me to see all the things that were going right and had gone well. I prayed that He would just help me be strong enough to move on and just improve, but not be so hard on myself. And one thought led to the next until we ended up at a potential investigators house that we had met about 6 weeks previous on the street. He was a younger kid that we had met while contacting one night in the center. He had been with His friends who were all smoking. They were by this alleyway and I have to be honest (which is awful of me and I really don't want to admit) but I had this small thought that I hoped Sister Powell wouldn't stop and talk to them since she was in front of me, because I just didn't know quite what to expect. But of course she stopped and talked to them (for which I am so so grateful). The two friends were not interested at all, but this one, actually was. We watched the video with him and talked about the Book of Mormon. He gave us his number and address and set up an appointment with us. Well when we went for the appointment then, no one was home. We tried a few times after that to set up lessons and what not, but he never answered or was never home. So we had stopped for a while. Well then a week ago, we decided to give it a try again. And what do you know there we found ourselves on Saturday, when I had been having such a hard time.
When we got to his apartment and called him to come open the door, he had actually been asleep. I don't think he had really remembered that we had set up an appointment, but I know God had total control of that day, and we were blessed to be able to come when he was home. When we walked in the door of his apartment, I almost gasped. It was a mess-- food all over the table clothes and just stuff everywhere all over the floor. Dirty dirty dirty. Beer cans on the counter and floor and this cat. There was pizza crust underneath the bed that had been there for I'm not even sure how long. I just felt awful for him. So fast forward a bit. We sit down on the mattress and start to teach him. I can't even begin to tell you the love that I felt immediately from the moment we walked in the door. He listened so well to everything that we had to say, and even began to tell us that a lot of really miraculous things had happened in his life in the last year and it couldn't help but make him think and believe that there was someone watching our for him. So then we invited him to baptism. And.. He said yes. He said yes on the first lesson, no hesitation at all. It was awesome. Then it was time for the closing prayer. We explained to him a little about how we pray and then all kneeled down. We asked him if he would say the closing prayer. He hesitated for a bit and thought about it and then sitting there on that dirty mattress with the random cat rounging around in that dirty dirty apartment, he started to pray. It was thee most sincere and honest prayer I have ever heard before. It was literally as if God was sitting right there on that mattress with us. It was like a Father who had been waiting for so long to have his son come back home. I felt so much love. So so so much love. He told Heavenly Father about the things that he had done in his life. He apologized for the mistakes he had made. He acknowledged all the amazing things that he had seen in his life in the last year and just simply asked God to help him to know he was there and what he wanted him to do. We left that building on saturday, and as we walked away, tears just streamed down my face. I've never experienced anything like that before. I'm just so grateful to know that I am here being the tool through which Heavenly Father can find his children and bring them back to Him. I'm so grateful that Sister Powell decided to talk to him that day and that we had the faith and direction from Heavenly Father to get back in contact and teach this boy. I will forever be grateful for that day, and for the spirit that I felt as we taught him and as he prayed. I'm so grateful for my Heavenly Father and for the tender mercies that He allows me to be a part of everyday. I'm so grateful for the Gospel and the lessons that I am learning here in Finland. I know this Gospel is true. It's changing lives and in the process it's changing mine. I love you all so very much and I'm so grateful for all that you've done to help me be where I am today. I love you all! Have a great week!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
Where do I even begin to describe the last week? It has been an amazing and miraculous one for sure. Maybe even if I might say, the best thee very best week of my mission. So I want to tell you about the best day of them all. It was saturday. I'm not sure exactly why I was feeling this way, but after our lesson in the morning, I was a bit frustrated. I felt that I hadn't taught as well as I could have and had wished that my Finnish would have just gone better so that the investigator could understand better. It's never very good when you're frustrated with yourself, especially me as I've learned that that just leads to one more be-littling thought about myself and what I'm doing until I've driven myself right into a pit. So I prayed and prayed in my heart biking to our next lessons that Heavenly Father would just help me to pull out of this one. I prayed that He could help me to see all the things that were going right and had gone well. I prayed that He would just help me be strong enough to move on and just improve, but not be so hard on myself. And one thought led to the next until we ended up at a potential investigators house that we had met about 6 weeks previous on the street. He was a younger kid that we had met while contacting one night in the center. He had been with His friends who were all smoking. They were by this alleyway and I have to be honest (which is awful of me and I really don't want to admit) but I had this small thought that I hoped Sister Powell wouldn't stop and talk to them since she was in front of me, because I just didn't know quite what to expect. But of course she stopped and talked to them (for which I am so so grateful). The two friends were not interested at all, but this one, actually was. We watched the video with him and talked about the Book of Mormon. He gave us his number and address and set up an appointment with us. Well when we went for the appointment then, no one was home. We tried a few times after that to set up lessons and what not, but he never answered or was never home. So we had stopped for a while. Well then a week ago, we decided to give it a try again. And what do you know there we found ourselves on Saturday, when I had been having such a hard time.
When we got to his apartment and called him to come open the door, he had actually been asleep. I don't think he had really remembered that we had set up an appointment, but I know God had total control of that day, and we were blessed to be able to come when he was home. When we walked in the door of his apartment, I almost gasped. It was a mess-- food all over the table clothes and just stuff everywhere all over the floor. Dirty dirty dirty. Beer cans on the counter and floor and this cat. There was pizza crust underneath the bed that had been there for I'm not even sure how long. I just felt awful for him. So fast forward a bit. We sit down on the mattress and start to teach him. I can't even begin to tell you the love that I felt immediately from the moment we walked in the door. He listened so well to everything that we had to say, and even began to tell us that a lot of really miraculous things had happened in his life in the last year and it couldn't help but make him think and believe that there was someone watching our for him. So then we invited him to baptism. And.. He said yes. He said yes on the first lesson, no hesitation at all. It was awesome. Then it was time for the closing prayer. We explained to him a little about how we pray and then all kneeled down. We asked him if he would say the closing prayer. He hesitated for a bit and thought about it and then sitting there on that dirty mattress with the random cat rounging around in that dirty dirty apartment, he started to pray. It was thee most sincere and honest prayer I have ever heard before. It was literally as if God was sitting right there on that mattress with us. It was like a Father who had been waiting for so long to have his son come back home. I felt so much love. So so so much love. He told Heavenly Father about the things that he had done in his life. He apologized for the mistakes he had made. He acknowledged all the amazing things that he had seen in his life in the last year and just simply asked God to help him to know he was there and what he wanted him to do. We left that building on saturday, and as we walked away, tears just streamed down my face. I've never experienced anything like that before. I'm just so grateful to know that I am here being the tool through which Heavenly Father can find his children and bring them back to Him. I'm so grateful that Sister Powell decided to talk to him that day and that we had the faith and direction from Heavenly Father to get back in contact and teach this boy. I will forever be grateful for that day, and for the spirit that I felt as we taught him and as he prayed. I'm so grateful for my Heavenly Father and for the tender mercies that He allows me to be a part of everyday. I'm so grateful for the Gospel and the lessons that I am learning here in Finland. I know this Gospel is true. It's changing lives and in the process it's changing mine. I love you all so very much and I'm so grateful for all that you've done to help me be where I am today. I love you all! Have a great week!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
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| At the temple for MLC :) |
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
April 26, 2016 the UPDATE
Kaikille:
So I have been pretty awful I guess you could say about writing everyone and giving you an update on really what is happening here with me. I apologize for that. I should be better at sharing all the spiritual stories that are happening here with Heavenly Father's children and I haven't done that as well as I should.
Right now, Sister Powell and I are teaching about 7 people. Two of them have a baptismal date. One is a Finn and the other one is from Kenya. The investigator from Kenya we actually just set a baptismal date with this week. IT WAS AWESOME!!! So we've been so busy lately that we've had the chance to do quite a few member splits-- where Sister Powell goes with one member to a lesson and I go with a member to the other lesson. Well because of how our area is set up and the time and transportation and everything, on Sunday evening, Sister Powell and one of the members went to a lesson with one of our investigators while I and the other member sat in her car and called our investigator from Kenya and held a lesson over the phone with him. Let's just simple say that this investigator has been super busy and his job permits him from making it to church. Simply put...it's complicated. But he is more ready than anyone I've seen. He pretty much could be considered a member of like 5 years if you didn't know better. The only problem, is that his job makes it so he can't come to church on Sunday,which therefore means he isn't ready niether can he be baptized. Well long story short, we had a really powerful lesson and at the end with a lot of thought and strategy figured out a way that he can be baptized in the summer on JUNE 11th!!! Ahh!!! I don't know that I can say that I have favorite investigators, but this one is just really special and it has been so fulfilling to teach him and even learn from him. I'm super excited for him.
This week we had zone training meeting. Guess what that means?! Yep. I had to speak in front of people. BUT... that's alright. That's what the Gospel and life is all about right. Progression. Improvement. Overcoming fears and weaknesses. It was awesome. And honestly, it went pretty great. It was neat because President Watson was able to come to this one with his wife. It's always such a privelage and a blessing when we have the chance to hear him and his wife speak. All I can say is wow. Talk about feeling the spirit in a large dose and being uplifted and inspired. I definitely am blessed. We as a mission are blessed.
Right before Zone Training meeting, we had a short lesson planned with one of our cute old man investigators. Sister Watson came with us. It was perfect. It's the first time I've had the mission President's wife on a lesson with us and it was so much fun. She was able to bear her simple testimony of our Savior in Finnish and it changed completely our whole lesson. She brought the spirit so strongly in a way that neither Sister Powell or I ever could have. It was a reminder and a lesson to me of how little it matters that I speak Finnish well or how much I know. What matters is my worthiness and my humility to want to touch and change the hearts of others-- to want to bring them back to their Heavenly Father and their Savior Jesus Christ. I sure love Sister Watson. She is kind and charitable and humble, and I have so much yet to learn from her.
This week something that I have really learned and seen actually work, is prayer. Sincere and engaged prayer. Last Sunday, a lady talked in church. She did a really neat schenario with one of the Bishopric in our ward about a teenager praying to Heavenly Father. It was supposed to be somewhat of a replica of what most of our prayers usually are. We just send up pleas to Heavenly Father and thanks just without much thought always, but do we really listen? Do we really talk and engage in conversation with our Heavenly Father? It really made me stop and think about the way that I pray. Maybe the reason why some of my prayers aren't answered always, is not because Heavenly Father isn't telling me, but maybe more that I am not listening. I'm just telling him everything I want and asking him everything, with no thought to just sit and listen to Him speaking back to me. It has completely changed my prayers this week. Especially my prayers at night. I feel more in tune with my Heavenly Father than I think I ever have. It has been amazing. And the things that I have prayed for have been answered and Heavenly Father has been able to direct me and help me. It's amazing.
Well hopefully that's a better update. I know that the work that we're doing right now is more important than anything else. We are bringing the sheep back into the fold, and I know that God and Jesus Christ are right here with us. I love you all! Thank you much! Have a wonderful week!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
So I have been pretty awful I guess you could say about writing everyone and giving you an update on really what is happening here with me. I apologize for that. I should be better at sharing all the spiritual stories that are happening here with Heavenly Father's children and I haven't done that as well as I should.
Right now, Sister Powell and I are teaching about 7 people. Two of them have a baptismal date. One is a Finn and the other one is from Kenya. The investigator from Kenya we actually just set a baptismal date with this week. IT WAS AWESOME!!! So we've been so busy lately that we've had the chance to do quite a few member splits-- where Sister Powell goes with one member to a lesson and I go with a member to the other lesson. Well because of how our area is set up and the time and transportation and everything, on Sunday evening, Sister Powell and one of the members went to a lesson with one of our investigators while I and the other member sat in her car and called our investigator from Kenya and held a lesson over the phone with him. Let's just simple say that this investigator has been super busy and his job permits him from making it to church. Simply put...it's complicated. But he is more ready than anyone I've seen. He pretty much could be considered a member of like 5 years if you didn't know better. The only problem, is that his job makes it so he can't come to church on Sunday,which therefore means he isn't ready niether can he be baptized. Well long story short, we had a really powerful lesson and at the end with a lot of thought and strategy figured out a way that he can be baptized in the summer on JUNE 11th!!! Ahh!!! I don't know that I can say that I have favorite investigators, but this one is just really special and it has been so fulfilling to teach him and even learn from him. I'm super excited for him.
This week we had zone training meeting. Guess what that means?! Yep. I had to speak in front of people. BUT... that's alright. That's what the Gospel and life is all about right. Progression. Improvement. Overcoming fears and weaknesses. It was awesome. And honestly, it went pretty great. It was neat because President Watson was able to come to this one with his wife. It's always such a privelage and a blessing when we have the chance to hear him and his wife speak. All I can say is wow. Talk about feeling the spirit in a large dose and being uplifted and inspired. I definitely am blessed. We as a mission are blessed.
Right before Zone Training meeting, we had a short lesson planned with one of our cute old man investigators. Sister Watson came with us. It was perfect. It's the first time I've had the mission President's wife on a lesson with us and it was so much fun. She was able to bear her simple testimony of our Savior in Finnish and it changed completely our whole lesson. She brought the spirit so strongly in a way that neither Sister Powell or I ever could have. It was a reminder and a lesson to me of how little it matters that I speak Finnish well or how much I know. What matters is my worthiness and my humility to want to touch and change the hearts of others-- to want to bring them back to their Heavenly Father and their Savior Jesus Christ. I sure love Sister Watson. She is kind and charitable and humble, and I have so much yet to learn from her.
This week something that I have really learned and seen actually work, is prayer. Sincere and engaged prayer. Last Sunday, a lady talked in church. She did a really neat schenario with one of the Bishopric in our ward about a teenager praying to Heavenly Father. It was supposed to be somewhat of a replica of what most of our prayers usually are. We just send up pleas to Heavenly Father and thanks just without much thought always, but do we really listen? Do we really talk and engage in conversation with our Heavenly Father? It really made me stop and think about the way that I pray. Maybe the reason why some of my prayers aren't answered always, is not because Heavenly Father isn't telling me, but maybe more that I am not listening. I'm just telling him everything I want and asking him everything, with no thought to just sit and listen to Him speaking back to me. It has completely changed my prayers this week. Especially my prayers at night. I feel more in tune with my Heavenly Father than I think I ever have. It has been amazing. And the things that I have prayed for have been answered and Heavenly Father has been able to direct me and help me. It's amazing.
Well hopefully that's a better update. I know that the work that we're doing right now is more important than anything else. We are bringing the sheep back into the fold, and I know that God and Jesus Christ are right here with us. I love you all! Thank you much! Have a wonderful week!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
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| Our excursions with Sister Watson |
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
April 19, 2016 Our Heavenly Father
Kaikille:
So I'll just apologize first-off that this week is short and not too informative. But it's been another wonderful week. God sure is blessing Sister Powell and I. I just love Sister Powell. She is amazing. Everday I am literally blown away by her ability to love. Her ability to accept it and show it towards others. I'm influenced by her ability to help others feel God's love and know of His eternal plan for them. I've never met someone who is just so willing to accept God's will and to do it. I am learning so much about my relationship with God and my accountability to Him through Sister Powell. God sure knew that I needed her in my life. Oh what am I saying. Of course God knew. He always knows. I just didn't know it, and I'm grateful that God has helped me to realize how much I have and still do need her. I have needed every single one of my companions. They have shaped me in the most unique and beautiful ways. I have a sure testimony that God places people in our lives or in our paths for very specific reasons relating to our eternal destiny our earthly lives' path. How good He is. How much He loves us and is aware of us. And blessed I am to have the opportunity to share this knowledge with others. I'm grateful for the time that I have here in Finland. I know that the Gospel is true. It's the only thing that really holds us together when our world falls apart. I know that God is real. He loves us. He is our Father in Heaven. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that through Him we can return and live with our Father in Heaven and receive that fulness of joy. I know they want us to succeed and have given us the tools to do so. We just have to find them and use them. I love missionary work, even though (yes I am willing to admit it) it is hard, one of the hardest things I've ever done. But I love it. I know that as we turn outwards in our moments of trial, that God blesses us with happiness and lifts us beyond what we could do ourselves. I have seen that in my life and know that it is true. I love you all. You are wonderful. You are amazing. You are sons and daughters of a loving, perfect, all knowing, and Eternal God. Don't forget that. Go and Make today a great day!!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
So I'll just apologize first-off that this week is short and not too informative. But it's been another wonderful week. God sure is blessing Sister Powell and I. I just love Sister Powell. She is amazing. Everday I am literally blown away by her ability to love. Her ability to accept it and show it towards others. I'm influenced by her ability to help others feel God's love and know of His eternal plan for them. I've never met someone who is just so willing to accept God's will and to do it. I am learning so much about my relationship with God and my accountability to Him through Sister Powell. God sure knew that I needed her in my life. Oh what am I saying. Of course God knew. He always knows. I just didn't know it, and I'm grateful that God has helped me to realize how much I have and still do need her. I have needed every single one of my companions. They have shaped me in the most unique and beautiful ways. I have a sure testimony that God places people in our lives or in our paths for very specific reasons relating to our eternal destiny our earthly lives' path. How good He is. How much He loves us and is aware of us. And blessed I am to have the opportunity to share this knowledge with others. I'm grateful for the time that I have here in Finland. I know that the Gospel is true. It's the only thing that really holds us together when our world falls apart. I know that God is real. He loves us. He is our Father in Heaven. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that through Him we can return and live with our Father in Heaven and receive that fulness of joy. I know they want us to succeed and have given us the tools to do so. We just have to find them and use them. I love missionary work, even though (yes I am willing to admit it) it is hard, one of the hardest things I've ever done. But I love it. I know that as we turn outwards in our moments of trial, that God blesses us with happiness and lifts us beyond what we could do ourselves. I have seen that in my life and know that it is true. I love you all. You are wonderful. You are amazing. You are sons and daughters of a loving, perfect, all knowing, and Eternal God. Don't forget that. Go and Make today a great day!!
Rakkaudellani,
Sisar Jordan
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| Sister Powell and I headed out for the bikes. |
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
April 12, 2016 Oulu is waking!
Schyler is busier than ever and this is so good! She didn't have time to write a big group email this week so I will share just a few tidbits from her personal emails home to Mom and Dad........
"Things are so great. We have about 9 investigators right now. One of them with a baptismal date and others that are progressing. It's crazy how much is happening in this area right now. Sister Powell is really awesome at what she does and hopefully I can learn even a small part of how she does it all. I think the biggest thing is that she doesn't ever think about herself. It's never about her, and I think that's why she's so successful. I think that's the biggest key. So gradually I am learning or at least trying to learn that from her."
"Slowly slowly, some green is coming -it's still rather cold. I have to still wear a hat and big scarf and small pair of gloves, but for the most part it's getting warmer. And lighter... holy camoly. At 9 at night when we come in, it's still pretty much all light. The sun is just going down and the sunsets are amazing. I really cannot imagine what it will be like in the summer. It's going to be weird that's for sure. You would love it here right now. It's just so beautiful. Things are still kind of dead, but slowly they are coming to life. That's such a cool thing to see. I remember loving it last year too, when I first got here."
"Oulu has been fantastic. This last week was really awesome. It's getting warmer and warmer which I'm grateful for. We ride bikes all the time, so that is a nice work-out. We're by the ocean and it practically runs right through the middle of the city. You'd never really guess it's the ocean because it's different than what you think of when you think "ocean" but it's Finland, it's just unique. There are bridges everywhere that cross over the ocean where it intersects in the city. It's just so beautiful. We'll see what I say of it compared to Jyväskylä when summer comes. I don't know if anything can beat there. Oulu is definitely bigger and busier than Jyväskylä though. It's nice because there's so many more people to talk to, but on the other hand I really miss the peacefulness and calmness of Jyväsklyä. I just..... ah..... I love that city, and I miss it. The sunsets right now are just amazing. AMAZING. Unfortunately, I have been too busy to take many pictures, but hopefully my memory will do I guess. I'm just going going going all the time. It's nuts, but it's good. It will be weird when Sister Powell goes home. Hopefully, I'll slowly get the hang of everything. She is really awesome though. Very confident in what she does. Loves to speak Finnish 24-7 outside, which is sometimes hard and frustrating for me. Let's just face it, Finnish is just still hard for me, but it's teaching me a lot, especially patience and hard work. Thank goodness for that."
Missions are the best and I hope anyone thinking about going really seriously considers all the
learning and growth that can occur. Wouldn't trade this mission of Schyler's for anything in the world. We have loved every moment along the way with her.
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| SPLITS! :) Sister Hyde is so great! |
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| So many kinds of bridges everywhere here! |
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| Incredible SUNSETS!!!!!! |
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