June 9, 2015 Another great week !!

To Everyone:

Well another great week!  Unfortunately, we don't have the most investigators right now, but we are able to help lots of the families in the ward and do lots of service.  That is really great and we are able to be outside lots.  We help with yards, gardens, cleaning windows, etc.  Finland is so beautiful and the weather is perfect right now, so who wouldn't want to be outside!? 

There is an older woman in our ward that lives alone and is probably in her late 80's.  She was diagnosed with cancer in March.  We had been visiting her at that time, and she called us on her birthday to tell us the news.  It was the saddest thing ever and it broke our hearts.  We have been able to go and see her quite frequently lately.  My favorite thing has been to sing the hymns to her.  She really loves that and it brings such a spirit into her home, and I just have such an appreciation for music because of it.  I am grateful for her humility and her happiness despite all that she is feeling and dealing with right now.  I love that old woman so much and it makes me so happy to go and visit her.  

On Sunday, there was a broadcast to all the Scandinavian countries from Scotland.  It was Elder Holland.  It was really great, and it was so nice to have a Sunday where we heard things in English.  Elder Holland is great.  He talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and how important it is.  It is the Foundation of everything in this church.  Everything relies and depends upon the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.  I know that I have truly come to love the scriptures on my mission.  They guide me each day and bring peace and happiness into my life.  I encourage each of you to read them everyday.  Do what Moroni instructs us and ponder the message that it contains and then Ask in the Name of Jesus Christ, if it is true.  Even if you have already received that witness before, do it again.  It will be a another assurance to you that it is true and bring a spirit that what you are reading is from God and that it can help you and guide you in your life.  I love the Book of Mormon so much and I know that it is the Iron Rod to lead us to eternal life.  

The work here in Finland is slow unfortunately.  People are not super accepting of the Gospel (at least in my neck of the woods), but we will find those who are ready and prepared.  We have one investigator who will hopefully be back from Greece this week.  He has been investigating since I first got here to Marjaniemi.  I was the first along with Sister Seegmiller to start working with him.  He has slowly been progressing and I see the spirit that he has felt and how much he has enjoyed church.  I am hopeful of him and his desire to know more about this gospel.  Keep praying for all of the missionaries here as well as around the world.  We are so grateful for all of you and the support you show us!  We couldn't do this without all of you and your love, advice, guidance, support, and prayers!  Thank you!    

I know this Gospel is true.  I am thankful to be a missionary.  Remember God's love for each of his children.  It never stops and it never changes.  He loves you!  He wants what is best for you!  He is aware of you and hears your prayers!  Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us to be happy and have provided a way for that to happen!  So Choose to Be Happy!  

I love you all!!!!!  Make yourself the Best week!!!! 

With as much love as I have,
Sister Jordan

Doesn't get much prettier than this !!!!
Beautiful Finland

An early morning stroll !!

We got to see these amazing sisters while we were visiting East Helsinki!  Your daughters are doing amazing work.  We are very grateful for their service!  We even got to go to a lesson with them.  It was a blast!  They are truly doing the lords work!  Thank you for supporting them as they are serving the Lord.  We know that they are being watched over and blessed, even in times of trials.  Thank you again for letting your girls serve the wonderful people of Finland!

Andy and Katie Green ( Elder Green was a companion to Jake serving here in Finland)

Schyler and Sis. Forrest (2nd Comp)

June 2, 2015 The Rollar Coaster Life!!

Kaikille:

Wow life sure is quite the journey....  I can't even begin to tell everyone just how much I feel my outlook on life has changed within 3 short weeks.  One day you think you have it all figured out, and in moments it changes just like that.  It's slightly a scary thought-- living from second to second knowing that at any given moment, your life could drastically change.  BUT we have something that helps us find comfort and direction and peace even when we do know that life changes so quickly and drastically, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We have a sure knowledge of a God who so loves us and cares about us-- our mortal progress and our eternal blessings.  He is watching over us every seco        nd of every day.  He hears our pleas for help and our cries of sorrow.  He wants only what is best for us, including all of the struggles we will go through and the trials we will have to endure.  He has a plan, specifically for each one of us.  We have a Savior, Jesus Christ, our brother and our closest friend.  Someone who has lived and died, Atoned for everyone of us, and was Resurrected.  He knows completely and fully all of our heartaches and pains and exactly how to overcome them.  He loves us.  He is there for us. Always.  All of this knowledge, in those seconds we live day to day, provide us the peace and direction to move forward.  To take steps through the fog and put our trust in a God who so loves us.  

Although my heart is hurt, it is more full than I have ever felt in my life.  God loves me.  He loves each one of you.  He hears our prayers, and he does answers them in ways sometimes we can't even see.  I have been so blessed! 

Finland is SO beautiful! The sun is shining almost all the time.  I go to bed at 10:30pm at night and it is pretty much completely light outside, and when I wake up at 6:15am, the sun is completely up!  The sun makes people happy! It's as if everyone here has come out of hibernation.  They are so much more happy and friendly and there is actually life here in Finland.  It is so green and lush and just AHH just amazing! This truly is a sacred place and I am in love! 

Just a little about the missionary work here:  People are unlike anywhere else.  They are quite straightforward about whether they want anything to do with what you have to say or not.  People are not very accepting, but yet we still try and we still believe.  One day, they will understand and they will know of the importance of our message.  We serve the members as much as we can, and I have come to love them here so much!  Lifelong friends i'm most certain! 

Over the past three weeks, my language hasn't had the most attention.. well because of a lot of things happening (I know there shouldn't be any excuses), but surprisingly, especially this week, somehow God has allowed me to see progress.  I know that the gift of tongues is real-- SO REAL.  I have been able to speak and understand WAY more than I ever thought! I may be able to speak Finnish for reals one day! Maybe... just maybe! :)   

EVERYONE:  I Love it here! I LOVE FINLAND! I LOVE FINNS!  This is amazing! God is amazing! He loves us-- ALL OF US!  We are blessed and we have so much to be grateful for and so much to rejoice in! I love all of you, and hope that you all find success and happiness in whatever you are doing! Make yourselves the best week ever! 

Rakkaudellani,

Sisar Jordan        

Another lake in Finland

Beautiful Finland !

Amazing flowers near our Chapel 

Running/walking path

Its Gorgeous here!

A morning stroll !

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 

Pictures !!!!! 4/21/15

Sister Jordan and Sister Seegmillar

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

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

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

Great Day @ the Helsinki Temple

Escalators !  WOW!!! they are something here!

Super long escalator rides here!

Just goofin' off

Helsinki Temple

Beach at Espoo

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

Goodbye to Sis. Thayne

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

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

Normal clothes!!!!!   LOL!!!!

Flash mob downtown Helsinki

Tuesday April 21, 2015

Dear Everyone:

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

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

So really funny story for the week...

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

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

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

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

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

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Jordan