Sisar Hansen: Serving in Suomi (Finland): Theme Nights

I've written before about Saturday nights in Finland- Sauna night, aka the hardest time to get an appointment, and the worst time to just go knocking doors. Sisar Schellenberg and I have attempted a series of theme nights for these times when we're left without a solid appointment on Saturday night. Our first attempt was "multicultural night", aka we look for people who've expressed interest who aren't from Finland, and therefore may not have the same sauna night traditions in place. I don't recall finding any of these people, but it got us out and moving, so that's pretty successful in its own way. Last Saturday was "mischief night", aka the night where we went around, doing secret acts of service. We dropped thank-you notes attached to bags of cookies in mail slots and made cards for people we've missed lately, to let them know that we care. We even did a follow-up on one of our member families via a silly note in their mailbox asking them how they're doing on our latest assignment and encouraging them to keep doing a great job. All the fun of being sneaky with all the joy of doing service. The darker night skies over Helsinki help quite a bit, too.

Last night after planning, we saw that there was some extra time, and so I gave Sisar Schellenberg a "So.....shall we do it?" kind of look. "Are you sure you want to?" she asked, "Well, it's ultimately your choice, but I'm ready if you are." After a slight pause she answered, "I wasn't so sure earlier, but what the hey- let's do it!" All transfer, she's been bemoaning the coming winter weather because last year her long hair was always getting caught in her coat and scarves. Yes, that's right. With absolutely no prior experience, I sat her down and chopped several inches off her locks. It took a bit longer than anticipated- we barely made it to bed on time- but I must say, it looks rather nice. No need to visit the salon for a remedial haircut on P-Day. We saved some money, and it was a fun bonding/learning experience. Sometimes you just need to go for it, and do something totally gutsy and risky. Sometimes you need to just go ahead and do something, even if you're not sure that you can, or if you've never done it before. Sometimes your decisions are influenced by it being the end of a long day and having some spare time. Whatever lesson is meant to be learned here, let's learn it.

We finally have a solid investigator, our Moroccan friend Ben. We visited his house the other night and met his wife and sister. They're welcoming, hospitable people, and it was a pleasure to spend some time with them. Ben prefers French, but also speaks Finnish. His wife speaks only Arabic, so that presents a bit of a challenge, but we've ordered some helpful materials from the office, and we have an Arabic-speaking acquaintance who we can call for help, so there should be a good way to teach the entire family. I've had a lot of fun using my French to help people in this area. I hope that I can continue to find how my other talents relate to missionary work, so I can make it more enjoyable and more natural. We talked about that a bit at our zone meeting last week, and it's true- Heavenly Father gives us talents, which are meant to be used for the good of ourselves, but also for other people. How can YOU use your talents this week as a way to bless another person's life?

Change calls loom over us once again this weekend, and next week will initiate my second-to-last transfer of my mission! The time flies by so fast! I'm glad I have the scriptures, Preach My Gospel, and fellow missionaries to help me make the most of my brief time in Finland as a missionary.

I love you all! Kiitos for the constant love and support! I try to live up to it.

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hansen