An Acquired Taste

In Finland, they like food very much in the ways that I don't- They like their licorice black, their bread rye, their soup fishy, and their milk warm in the cupboard. I'm trying to develop a taste for a lot of the things here that I don't particularly like (except for the milk- I learned in France, where they drink the same kind of milk, that there's no getting past that one.) I can now easily chew and swallow mild licorice without wincing, and I know that when members give me dry rye bread, there's always butter, cheese, and meat to go with it. I had fish soup a couple of weeks ago without much trouble, which was a major victory for somebody who grew up in NW Washington and STILL never came to like the stuff. I'm trying to become more and more Finnish, as much as some of the mannerisms and foods are not what I'm used to.

There's a lot to get used to on the mission, but it's coming along. Yesterday in church, a 17-year old boy touched me on the shoulder to indicate he wanted to walk past, and the thought, "AHHHH! DON'T TOUCH ME!!" came immediately to my mind. For somebody as huggy as myself, I'd say that's a major shift. Riding a bike is easy as a piece of piirakka nowadays, and I actually look forward to it sometimes. That being said, with the colder weather, we've decided to make more use of the local public transportation, so the obscurity of the Oulu bus system is still a bit new to me. The time table is unlike any other bus schedule I've seen in the USA or Europe, so I'm going to have to be very observant as we ride, so as to get to know places and routes better.

We had a very productive week, although very trying in some ways. I know I've gotten better at letting the Atonement work through me, when I face some of the same re-curring disappointments, and I can go back to a peaceful frame of mind in a shorter amount of time. I can only hope that some of these trials I've been facing will improve over the course of my service here, but if they do, I feel much more equipped to handle them.

We continue to work with some less-active sisters, although since one of them keeps coming to church and YSA home evening, I'm not so sure we can even call her less-active anymore! So much of this work is helping less-active members and new converts either remember their covenants, or understand them better. We get some really great comments from one recent convert in particular during Gospel Principles class. I sometimes wonder where he's going at first with his questions or comments, but then he always manages to make an incredibly simple, but profound statement that is always impressive to me.

I've been a bit obsessed lately with the thought of simplicity. In Mosiah, it mentions several times teaching only faith and repentance. Obviously, there are other important things, like obediance, God's Plan of Salvation, temples, etc. but everything goes back to those two principles. I'm trying to simplify a lot of what I do, especially in my teaching. Does what I'm teaching help the investigator/member increase their faith, or have more desire to repent? No? Then it doesn't belong in the lesson, no matter how well it directly answers their question, or no matter how interesting it is. Because really, everything can be answered with faith in Christ, and with the desire to repent, so a lot of nit-picky concerns and interesting tidbits don't really matter that much. As a result, I feel like I'm a more powerful teacher, and I feel more peace in my daily life as I try to simplify an already simplified lifestyle.

I have two challenges to my readers this week- One is to find ways to simplify your life for the better, and the other is to find something that's good for you, but something that you may not particularly like, and find a way to make it an acquired taste. Those are two skills I've learned on my mission so far, and about which I still have much to learn, that I know can be a blessing to me throughout the rest of my life. It's amazing to see the ways Heavenly Father is molding and shaping me through my time here, and I look forward to continual growth as I do what I can to serve others.

Rakkaudella,


Sisar Hansen

Who Needs Sleep?

This week was long, and tiring, and difficult. I've had some sleep issues lately that have made everything else more difficult. It's hard to keep a good perspective, or to even do the work at all, when you wake up every morning feeling like you never slept. Thankfully, I got my mission president's clearance to see a doctor, and the pills he gave me seem to work (maybe a little too well- I didn't hear the alarm go off this morning, and I was more than a little confused when Sisar Vath turned the light on). The goal is to take the pills for a few days, and hopefully my body will self-regulate, so I can sleep normally without medication. Finland seems to do that to people, I'm told. It's a very physically demanding thing to serve here in Oulu, where the cold weather (we're down to -22c this past week!) can make muscles and bike parts slow, and sometimes walking is faster than biking. The sun comes out earlier (It's not even 1pm, and it's out in full view! MIracle!) but it's still dark more often than is sometimes healthy. How's THAT for a first area?

One of the things I'm learning from this, is that I don't understand or use the Atonment nearly as much as I should. We read in Alma chapter 11 that Christ suffered not just for our sins, but for our pains and weaknesses and sorrows. My mission president told me in addition to my doctor visit, to write down a list of all the sources of stress in my life right now. What thoughts bring me fear or disappointment? Then, in my nightly prayer, to hand all of the items on that list to the Lord, so He can take my burden, and so I can have the strength to make it through this incredibly trying time of service. It's amazing how, despite the effectiveness of my new prescription sleep aid, I'm pretty sure this exercise did me much more good. I made sure to make my list as long as I could, to add every little worry that I've been carrying with me, so that I could do better at "leav(ing) behind all other personal affairs", like it says in my mission call letter. I've been more positive, worked harder, and been more focused as a result over the past few days. Sometimes this mission has taken me to my own Gethsemane, during times when I feel like I can't even make it out the door again, but as a result, as I get through a tough day or week, I learn to come closer to the Savior, and my relationship with him becomes deeper and more intimate. This mission is without a doubt, the hardest thing I've ever done, but I'm also growing more than I would've imagined already, and the blessings in the end outweigh the struggles.

I want to keep this email short this week. We've had some great success visiting less-active sisters, and helping members commit to better missionary service, but the thing that really sticks out to me isn't about the events of the week, or the quirks of Oulu and it's inhabitants, or the language barrier, but rather the things I mentioned above. That's what the gospel is about. It's about changing to become more like the Savior. It's about finding a way to put aside our pains, our sorrows, our sins, our weaknesses, so that through Jesus Christ, we can have them all taken away, and we can eventually come to know Him and Heavenly Father more personally, as we eventually return back to their presence. As a representative of Jesus Christ, I get to concentrate all of my time and efforts of learning these lessons, and it's a good thing, because I need it! And so do the people here in Suomi, whom I have the privilege to serve. My companion and I work together to memorize hymns. This week's hymn has been "I Know that My Redeemer Lives", which I find incredibly appropriate. Go get a hymn book and look up the words, and see what a living Redeemer can do for you.

Rakastan teitä

Sisar Hansen

A Trainee No More! [plus photos]

This week was a bit uncertain for Sisaret Hansen ja Vath. We've had a really hard time booking solid appointments with investigators, so although we did our weekly planning, there have still been a lot of variables to work with, and a lot of this week was us going head-first into the unknown. I mentioned last week that we've decided to stop visiting one of our investigators who lives out in the elders' area, which has given us a lot more time to run around our own area. I'm getting to know streets and neighborhoods better every day, and Sisar Vath refuses to lead when we ride, unless it's to someplace we both know very well, like the church, or the grocery store. This means we've done a lot more stopping to look at maps so I can get oriented, and then sometimes stopping again 5 minutes later to re-check the map, but we're working towards the goal of getting me ready to possibly train in February, when our next transfer period begins. (Note: I have no idea what will happen next transfer, of course, but one of the sisters from the MTC group before me is training this transfer, so it's a possibility! And I figure that if I can get myself organized and practice my skills enough to be a senior companion, and I don't end up training, then so much the better for us, right?) She also encourages me to handle most of our texts and phone calls, and I'm doing my best to not lean on her (which is so easy, dernit!) and explain words I don't know using other words and/or gestures. I'm growing a lot. It's not as scary as I thought it might be, especially since I know I have a companion to back me up when I need it. Anyhoo, since I have now been in the country for TWELVE WEEKS, I am hereby no longer in training! And so now Sisar Vath, who USED to be my trainer, is now just another normal missionary, and I'm her normal companion! :)

Last P-Day we spent some time at the church with the other sisters- eating, emailing, writing letters, and watching church DVDs. One the way out, we stopped to talk to a woman on the street. Turns out, she wasn't interested, but when we asked her for a referral, she mentioned that her neighbor is a Mormon. It's the same less-active woman who we've tried many times in the past, and who always tells us that she'll call if she wants us to come. She's the one we "heart attacked", and she came out and caught us in the act! We'd decided to leave her alone for a bit, but this was a sign for us to head out in her direction and try one more time. We brought her a treat, told her that we miss her, and miracle of miracles- she let us inside!! We sat and chatted for a while about nothing in particular, but WE GOT INSIDE!!! She looked happier than I've ever seen her, which was another big "hooray". She even invited us back to help her clean her living room later that week. We returned, helped her clean and rearrange some furniture, and played with her cat, Oscar. Oscar, like many other cats, likes to poke his claws where they don't belong. On our first visit, he took one look at Sisar Vath's pretty wool socks, and decided they looked very scratch-able. After several cries of, "Oscar, ow!" (We still laugh about that sometimes) he finally let her go and went on his way. On our return visit, he decided he liked my brand new boots quite a bit and made himself a bed inside one of them. Thankfully, Sisar Vath's foot is doing just fine, and so are my boots, but next time we visit (yes, we have another return appointment!) we'll put our shoes in the bathroom so he can't get to them.

Even though we had a lot of blank space in our schedules, we've always had something to do, and somebody to see. That's the beauty of the Area Book. We can always go back to it and get ideas about who we might visit, and what service we might do for them. We made some pretty fantastic banana chocolate chunk cookies, which have helped us get into a couple doors. We're hoping to bring some tonight to a potential investigator who's been sick. We have two new investigators as a result of our Area Book searches, which is a great blessing for us in an area where finding has been difficult. We were able to do service several times last week, in a country where people are often too self-reliant to want to ask for much from other people. We've met with a lot of members and less-active members to help them become better missionaries themselves. We're working with one woman to set up a lunch with some friends where we can also come and talk about the gospel together. We did a roleplay with her about how she can invite her friends in a loving and non-threatening way to come meet us. We did another roleplay with another sister who was nervous to give a copy of Mormonin Kirja to a friend. Even though we're not always sure where to go, the Lord provides for us to do His work every day. We have a similar situation this week, although with a few more solid appointments than before, so hopefully we can see similar miracles.

Last week we were turning a corner that we go around very often, as it's on the way to the church, the city center, and many member homes, and we saw a teenaged girl lying on the ground, crying. Her mother, sister, and brother seemed very angry and annoyed, and the looked angry that we would ask them if they needed any help. It was a bit of a haunting experience for Sisar Vath and myself, because we had no idea what was going on, although we knew that something very wrong had definitely happened. We both admitted that it was now a bit hard for us to get to that corner withouth thinking of the girl. So the other day when we were about to reach that point, I just started belting out the Halleluja Chorus for a few measures. I wish I had a picture of Sisar Vath's face she made at me! Much like the afore-mentioned less-active sister's face when she caught us putting hearts on her door. But now we have a different memory of that corner, and Sisar Vath even started humming Halleluja one time as we passed by. I think this experience sums up a lot about missionary work. There are bad things that happen out here in the field. We see some ugly things, and go through some tough emotions. But if we can replace the bad memories of a place or person or experience with a new, uplifting memory, then we can keep going like before.

I can't imagine my life without the blessings of this gospel. It is the greatest gift I've ever received. I'm thankful that, despite trials, I have been called to represent the Lord in beautiful, frozen Finland.

Rakkaudella,

At the mission home in December, 2013

The river is frozen!

Sisar Francis surprising me with a hug

Practicing our number for "Korihor, the Man, the Musical"  (just kidding)

The view from our apartment

A beautiful Oulu sunrise

What I unintentionally did to mission property

Hooray!  A new phone thanks to generous members

Sisar Hansen

A Very Short, Long Week

First, a very brief 2013 in review:

I opened 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland. Over the course of the year, I was in 7 countries, not counting airports. I flew on 17 flights. I attended church in 3 languages, and spoke in church in all 3 of those languages. I got the surprise of my life when my bishop in Geneva asked me to re-think missionary service, and he was right! I got my papers in February, came back to the States in May, and got my mission call to the Finland Helsinki Mission on June 1st. I went to the Seattle temple for my endowment on June 8th. I left for the MTC August 21st, became a 3rd-time aunt on the 22nd, and arrived in Finland on October 23. I spent the last couple months of the year in Oulu with some fantastic people. I've been blessed with an enormous amount in 2013, and I'm excited to spend the entirety of 2014 serving the Lord full-time.

This week was a hard one. It went by faster than I can even believe, but a lot happened.

December was a month where we were able to find more investigators and more potentials than we previously had. However, January is turning out to be the time when nobody wants to make solid return appointments. I know that there's somebody out there right now, waiting for Sisar Vath and I to come bring them the gospel message, but it's hard to see many results of our work right now, which has been especially trying for me this week. We made a particularly difficult decision after much prayer and discussion, to give Rosie some space for a while. She has a testimony, more than she thinks she does, but life is getting in the way, and her progression rate has slowed down dramatically. She lives quite far away, actually, so hopefully a blessing of this is that we can now use what used to be travel time to explore other areas and find somebody who is more prepared to make commitments and covenants. We love Rosie, and we can see her being baptized, but now is not the time for her to be prepared to make those changes and commitments.

On P-Day, Sisar Nyman and I went boot shopping together while our companions wrote letters at the other sisters' apartment. We went all over, looking for the right boots at the right price, that would be durable, stylish, and fit well either with thick winter socks, or thinner fall socks. I'd found a pair my first day in Finland in the basement of President and Sister Rawlings' house that were left behind by a departing sister, but they were already a bit worn, and by December, I felt self-conscious just wearing them in public. As things often go, the last place we had time to look had the perfect pair of boots, at a more-than-perfect price, and unsurprisingly, Sisar Nyman and I went home with the exact same pair of boots, and matching shoe polish kits. We waited this long to go shopping because there are a lot of sales after Christmas, and we didn't want to take up more than one P-Day looking for boots, so being able to find the boots we found with the time constraints we had was a blessing and an answer to my prayers. God cares about little things like this. He knows how important it was for me to find what I needed on that day, and it worked out just in the nick of time. When I zip up my nicely-polished, wool-lined winter boots, I think about how Heavenly Father takes such good care of me.

We continue to work a lot with members and to teach them how to be better missionaries. We're doing more roleplays with them, so they can feel comfortable talking to people about the gospel in everyday situations, and about inviting others to church, or to meet with us. The members feed us very well here, even when we don't expect food, which shows their love for us and our work. I'm getting more used to the food here, and I even ate an entire bowl of fish soup the other day, and it wasn't so bad! An older sisar who lives alone, the one who made us all socks for Christmas, asked us during a visit if we'd like a snack. She put a couple hotdogs on each of our plates, then decided she might as well finish off the package, so our "snack" ended up being SIX hotdogs apiece, pickles, beets, an egg for Sisar Vath (I hate eggs, so I passed), herbal tea, and cake! THEN she told us to take home all the chocolate from her candy dish. Another elderly sisar had her 96th birthday, and when we visited, she gave us an entire spongecake pastry roll, fruit, juice, and pieces of other cakes, as well as some cookies, and a couple of knit doilies sitting in her drawer (to remember Oulu). I am always blown away by the thoughtfulness and generosity of the members here.

We're not sure how this week will go- planning has been hard since we let Rosie go, and since we can't solidify appointments very easily. But we have faith that the right opportunities will come up for us. We've been trying to explore more of one of our areas where we have no members, potentials, or investigators. It's a slow start, but the Lord needs to bless the people in Area 5 as much as in all the other areas, so we're doing our best to get to know new places and new people. Sisar Vath has been an amazing blessing and support to me, and I feel like we've never been closer. Her silly sense of humor makes long bike rides down people-less roads enjoyable, and her faith is inspiring in those moments when I just want to break down and ask why I'm even here. But there's somebody waiting for Sisar Hansen here in Suomi, so the work goes on. 

This gospel is the greatest gift I've ever received. I am filled with more hope, understanding, love, peace, (insert virtue of choice here) because of it. It's made me who I am today, and will continue to shape me throughout my life. I am the best version of myself because of it. And this mission, although it pushes me to my breaking point sometimes, is helping me to see this all more clearly than ever before.

I hope you all had a fantastic new year celebration! Until next week!

Sisar Hansen

You Can't Spell "Joulu" Without "Oulu!"

Yes, I did just make that joke. (cue that b-dun-dun-ch! noise that accompanies bad jokes) But seeing as Oulu is as close as a Sister missionary can possibly get to Santa Claus, it is pretty special to be here for Christmas. OH, and of course, the ever-mentioned amazing branch members made it a very Christ-filled season.

The 24-26th of December were "red" days, so pretty much, no appointment meant staying inside our apartment. Well, we weren't about to spend our time just sitting around doing arts and crafts, so we booked at least 3-4 appointments for each day. A couple of them fell through, but we still had a lot going on. Christmas Eve is a very big day in Finland. It's kind of the main event, actually. First, we had an early lunch with an older sisar in our branch who lives alone. She knitted socks for all of the missionaries in Oulu! Mine and SIsar Vath's are purple with gray stripes, and they are super warm, and I love them. She fed us lots of Finnish Christmas food, which includes a lot of vegetable purees. Gotta say, rutebega isn't my thing, but Christmas porrige more than makes up for it. There's a couple of older sisaret who live together, one of them in a wheelchair. They live far out, so we rode like the wind and got there on time. They fed us another huge meal, including the best ham I've ever had in my LIFE, and even some reindeer! And then, HE CAME. Joulupukki knocked on our door, and came in with his list and his bag! He adressed each of us, and told us a few facts that he remembered hearing about ourselves, and then handed us packages full of chocolate and socks (and who can have enough of either?). The sisaret really went all-out to make sure we had an authentic Joulu experience. Since we live so far away and we have a curfew, one of the sisaret took us home in a taxi big enough for our bikes and her wheelchair, and made sure to take us past the cemetary so we could see the candles people had put on the graves.

Christmas day I woke up, feeling in my stomach the consequences of Christmas Eve. Our first appointment was another meal with a young married couple and their new baby boy (Jellybean, if you remember from an earlier post). Sisar Nyman and Sisar Francis were there, too. I went to give Sisar Nyman a hug, and our phone flew out of my hand and hit the floor hard. You may recall (Did I mention this? I sometimes can't remember what all I say) that about a month ago, that same phone had fallen, slow motion, out of my hand and down 3-4 flights of stairs. The Christmas phone-floor collision was the last straw apparently, so unfortunately, the poor thing died. Good timing, though, since we couldn't make un-announced phone calls that day or the next! We then went over to another young couple's house to make pulla (currently my favorite food on the PLANET), play games, and best of all- SKYPE! I got to talk with my sister's family (her kids are all so big, and I got to see Nora for the first time not in a photo!) and with my parents/brother. I got to speak Finnish for them, and talk about the work here, and what kinds of experiences I've had. They gave me encouragement and love, and I felt a renewal of energy for the work I'm sent here to do. Our last stop was to spend some time with a woman who has become one of our favorite helpers. She's always willing to come to lessons, and she always knows what to say. She sometimes wonders if her faith is strong enough, but the way she works with us, we know she has a strong love of the Savior, and of the gospel.

The 26th we went and visited a less active sister, who showed us photos of her younger (and kind of wild) life. It was fun to get to know her better. She gave us some names we can pray for, and we'll follow up later to see how we can serve them better. Then we went to a certain family's annual English Language Christmas Carol Sing-Along. I realized that it's been a couple years since I've sang these songs in English, since last year was in French, and this year is all Finnish. All of the missionaries and some branch members where there. We chatted, ate, sang, and had a great time enjoying the season and singing songs about Christ. To end the day, we had an appoinment with another older sisar from the branch, who also had food for us. Now, it was late, I was tired, and I HATE the taste of fish. So eating her salmon soup was a bit of a challenge, but I finished my bowl, and hopefully she could tell that I really was grateful for the effort she put into giving us something to eat!

Friday was back to work as normal. It was a little bit hard at first to get out of bed, but it was also good to go out and focus on finding again. Christmas parties are nice, but the work must go forward.

Saturday was a special day (are you singing the song in your head?) because we got to meet with one of our fall-through Christmastime appointments. He's always busy, so he never knows when he's free, which is a challenge, since we need a woman to come with us when we teach a man. Earlier in the day we set up an appointment for that evening to meet, and Sisar M, the woman we visited on Christmas night, came with us, since she lives close by. Well, when we walked into his apartment, we were surprised to hear voices- he'd brought a friend along! As I was taking off my coat and scarf, the doorbell rang, and in came another friend, and we all sat down around the table to talk. So there we were, a 60-something year old lady and two sister missionaries, teaching three rockers (seriously- this guy, who we shall call "Brett", has a scythe hanging up on his wall and more leather jackets than I've seen in one place.) Our discussion went really well. We talked about the Book of Mormon and how it answers our questions. I got to talk about the Restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith, and Sisar M chimed in every so often to give just the right comment at just the right time. The Spirit in the room got palpably stronger as I recited the First Vision. Everyone was focused and reverent. My FInnish has never been better, which I know was a result of the Spirit. We gave everybody a Restoration pamphlet, taught them how to pray for answers, and lucikly, had some extra copies of Mormonin Kirja to give to our two new investigators. A Christmas miracle, indeed!

One more weird story:

Saturday we talked to a nice woman on the street who was feeling sick, so we just gave her our card and she said she might call when she feels better. (People seldom do call, but it's good to be optimistic.) Sunday evening after we went out to try to find people in one of our dead-er areas, we had some time left to contact people from a list of names we picked out from our area book. We went to try a man we'd tried before with no success. We went up to his apartment, knocked on the door, and a very surprised looking woman answered the door, asking us "Kuina te tiesitte??" "How did you know??" We didn't catch on right away because she wasn't wearing her winter outer clothes, but it was the same woman from the day before! We talked for a bit, and although we don't have a solid return appointment with her, we're praying that she'll think of us a little more now, and hopefully one day we can come back and share our message with her.

This is a time to reflect on our Savior, and what He means to each one of us. It's a time to think about new beginings and rebirth. I hope each of you can set meaningful New Year's resolutions that will help you come closer to Heavenly Father and His Son. May you at this time see more clearly the hand of God in all aspects of your lives.

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hansen

Puhutko Ranskaa? [Do you speak French?]

Oh my, they say that Christmastime is a time for miracles, and it certainly is!

Finding has been a bit slow for a while, and we've been praying a lot to find more people who are ready to embrace our message of the gospel. We've gotten better at talking to everybody we see on the street, and doing so normally and naturally, but nobody seems to be interested. Well, last week we went over to the house of a potential investigator who is never home, and this time he was! He said that he's very busy from school and work, but since his son is going to be with his mother for Christmas, he's free for a lesson on Christmas Eve. Well, that is a very special day for Finns, much more so than for Americans, and since he's a man, we need a woman to come along with us. Our branch mission leader told us to reconsider the time, but it was our investigator that set it, so we prayed and prayed and made phone calls, and yesterday we found a sister from our branch who's willing to come! We've also had a lot more luck contacting. We made "ilo keksiä", or "joy cookies", so named because we wrapped up each cookie, and then taped a passalong card on the top. The card has the word "ilo" on it, underneath a picture of Mary and baby Jesus. It helped us to talk to more people, and to even get some potential investigators to let us in and sing to them! Christmastime is a time for creative missionary work, and I hope that I can apply those same principles to the rest of the year, so that we can see similar results!

I'm really excited about our Christmas plans. The 24-26th are red days, which means that we can't call, knock, or contact without an appointment. Pretty much, no set appointment means we stay home. We have at least 3 appointments on each of those days, and TWO are with investigators! We get to spend time with some of my favorite branch members, including an older sister in a wheelchair who lives with another older sister in the branch. They said they'd make us some traditional Joulu food (not sure what that means, but I'm all for it!) and we might even get a visit from Joulupukki! Ahhh! Joulupukki is the Finnish Santa Claus, and he knocks at the door on Christmas Eve night, unlike the silent, unseen American version I grew up with. A lot of members have already been very generous in offering us places to stay, thigns to eat, and we even got some nicely-wrapped chocolate from some members at church yesterday! So much love! I remember last year, when I wasn't sure what I'd be doing for Christmas, since I stayed in Saint-Julien the entire time, and the Bayart family gave me a place to stay, food to eat, and things to do. It's hard to believe that this is my second Christmas far away from home, but I'm very grateful that I'm well taken care of. I think a lot about what kind of member missionary I want to be after I'm released from my full-time duties, and I hope I have many opportunities to make life easier for some young men or women who are far away from home and family.

Many missionaries have been asking me about how many francophones I've been able to talk to, since everybody else seems to have contacted a French-speaker at some point. For a long time, my answer has been, "None, darnit!" but like I said, this is a time for miracles. Sisar Vath and I were at a bus stop a few nights ago (my bike was having some serious issues, so we left our bikes locked by the police station to come back the next day and get them fixed) and while she started up a conversation with the man next to us, I was distracted by what seemed something oddly familiar. Lo and behold, there was a group of 3 Parisians standing nearby! I waited a bit while I found a good time, and then I asked them where they were from, and why they were in Oulu. We talked for a bit, and we didn't have time to get to gospel-y stuff because their bus came a minute later, but I got to use one of my favorite talents in an unlikely place! Sisar Vath said she was praying for me to find something good to say to them, and I felt her prayers the entire time! Going back to the bike situation (things are much better now, by the way), we went back to the police station the next day, and we saw a man walking past, so we said hello, and asked him how he's doing. Turns out, he's from Cameroon, which is an African country where people speak- you guessed it- FRENCH! He's incredibly devoted to the Bible, and I have a hard time expressing how impressive he is. We were talking for a while, and things were going pretty well, but then I got the feeling to say something specific in French. Sisar Vath and I both commented later that his countenance seemed to warm up to us as we spoke in his native language. We set up an appointment with him for the next day at the church. We gave him a tour of the building and explained the purpose of our worship, and then led him into the chapel, where we had a good discussion about religion, symbolism (in which he is incredibly well-read) and why church is important. We managed to find the ONE copy of Le Livre de Mormon hiding out in our apartment, so we gave it to him, and again, the Spirit prompted me to testify of a specific principle in French. We're going to see him again later tonight, so prayers that everything goes well, and that he was able to read the feel the Spirit. It was an incredible experience, and one that I'll probably remember always as I look back on my mission.

Last week, as we were doing our weekly planning, I heard the sound of paper being dropped through our mail slot. 95% of the time, mail is either official missionary stuff, or for Sisar Vath, so I was surprised when she said that it was a package slip for me! I was excited to see who it was from, so after we finished all our business for the day, we went to get it. I didn't recognize the handwriting on the address, and I was a bit confused until I saw that the stamp said "FRANCE" on it! The Junods, a wonderful family from my ward in Geneva, had sent me a Christmas package!! I read the card (in French, of course. I always love seeing/hearing/speaking that language!) and saw that they'd sent me some Swiss chocolate and a pair of mittens that turn into fingerless gloves. Did I get choked up a bit? Definitely. I was so overcome by the knowledge that people that I knew and loved in France still think and pray for me, and as a bonus, I now have their address and can send them mail! It was one of those things that just made me want to go around and say, "Hey, I got a package from France!" even though nobody would really understand what a bit deal that was for me. Merci encore, les Junods! Je vous aime beaucoup!

We had zone conference this week. Traditionally, Rovaniemi has been the North Zone's conference location in December, but after some prayers and considerations about lodging and transport for the increased number of missionaries, we had it in Oulu. The brand-new missionaries that were there didn't even really have time to do much in their own cities before getting on a train to Oulu for the conference. I can imagine it must be tough to arrive in the field at this time of year. We had a lot of great counsel from President Rawlings, and Sister Rawlings shared some really poignant spiritual thoughts about the work. I really love her. She's pretty fantastic. It was great to see so many people all together, and all just from one zone. The mission used to be not much bigger than Friday's group! We each got a gift of a beautiful wooden mechanical pencil, and just for our zone, some really nice winter hats were donated! The Lord spoils me in so many ways! I got to do a half-hour exchange with one of the sisters from Kuopio, and as always, it was good to spend time with a new person with a different perspective, and see how I can make Oulu a better place.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas/Hanukka/Kwanza/Festivus/Whatever it is that you are doing over the next week or two. I pray for the people back home/from college/in France all the time, and I hope those prayers are felt.

Hyvää Joulua! Mina rakastan teitä!

-Sisar Hansen

Sketchy McSketcherton!

I'm about as stretched for time as I've ever been, and I know I didn't write a post last week due to time constraints, so this is what I can get out while on the 15-minute computer at the library.

Training in Helsinki was great. I had to wake up at the crack of dawn (well, before. This IS Finland!) to get on a plane to fly down there, but it all went pretty well. We did a lot of role plays about various situations, and President Rawlings answered a lot of our questions. It was great to see people from the MTC again. Sisar Vath and I stayed in Espoo with Sisar Knapp and her trainer. Sisar Knapp and I did an exchange together, and it was amazing to see how we could stretch ourselves without having our trainers with us. She was amazing, to put it in few words. She took charge of things in an inspiring way. While I was with her, we got to walk to the temple grounds, and teach a new convert lesson. He's from a country where religion doesn't much exist, so it's a different experience getting things to relate to him. Also, teaching in English. Weird. Some of us sang a song for the group, and since my fellow alto was suddenly struck with a sore throat, I ended up doing a bit of a solo. Ahhhh!

Helsinki is a beautiful city, but I missed Oulu a lot. I missed being on a bike, despite the snow and ice. I missed the wonderful members who do so much for us.

It's harder and harder to find people, since many are leaving for the holiday season, and almost nobody seems to be out on the streets anymore. But we do what we can. I've been blessed to get better at contacting, which is something I don't particularly enjoy, but is becoming less and less scary for me. I actually feel like a missionary now. I'm really just now realizing what people say when they talk about this work being the greatest work there is. I wonder how I will feel when I get to see somebody I've worked with get baptized? I pray every day to see this happen, and things are going slowly, but we are seeing small miracles, so I'm trying my best to not be discouraged, and to find reasons why Heavenly Father has sent me to this place, with these people.

Speaking of which, Sisar Vath and I will be in Oulu for another 9 weeks. She's already been here 9 months, so I'm going to do all I can to help her to see Oulu with fresh eyes, and to find renewed purpose in serving here. I'm looking forward to the challenges that being here during the coldest months of the year will bring me, because I know that I will grow a lot in many ways. I'm overcoming physical fears and weaknesses, which in turn helps me to overcome spiritual weakness.

The title of this blog refers to a particularly off-beat language study we had the other day. Sisar Vath went over with me some of her favorite English phrases (like, "I call shotgun!") and she asked me what "sketchy Mcsketcherton" means. Apparently, another missionary had taught her this one a while ago. I tried to explain, but there's no real way to sum it up in just a few words. She taught me "Kauhistuksen kanahäkki!" which literally means, "Chicken coop of terror!" but is something that older people use to say, "Oh my goodness!" I'll probably drop it in a conversation at some point with some native Finns and see how they react. She also taught me, "I have a chicken to pluck with you", which means, "I have a bone to pick with you", but I can't think of all the words in Finnish right now.

My 15 minutes are up, so I must sadly end this week's email much earlier than I had hoped. Next week I'll be able to talk a lot about Christmas preparations and various kinds of gifts, which is pretty exciting. I've already found myself unexpectedly blessed.

The more I do this work, the more I know that Heavenly Father loves me, and everyone on this earth. His plan for His children is based on pure love, and I get to teach that every single day! I can't think of a better way to celebrate this sacred season. How lucky am I?

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hansen