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

Spending a quiet P-Day moment at home, far from
the cold weather, in our thrift store winter gear

I found faith!

Locked out of the chapel!
What to do??

Hullut Päivät [Crazy Days]

It was one of those weeks where you look back, and think, "How did I manage to get through that one??" Not that it was by any means bad- far from it, but "crazy" seems to sum it up fairly well.

It all started on Monday. P-Day! Ours was shortened a bit, since it was the best time for us to meet with a potential investigator. We did manage to do emails, clean, and go to a kirppis (thrift store) with the other sisaret. We had a good lesson with our new investigator (although we'll have to transition her to being taught by the other sisters, since she's in their area. Will we EVER meet anyone who actually lives in our area???) After the short lesson, we jetted off to accompany another potential investigator to the young single adult home evening in central Helsinki. It was a bit awkward, since he had to leave soon and we still had some time before meeting up with the Espoo sisaret to start our exchange day. We got a snack, walked around, talked to people, and then headed out to Espoo. As it turns out, our travel passes don't cover Espoo, and we were shorter on cash than we realized, so when the ticket man came around, I bought a ticket, but dear Sisar S was left without, so we got off the train at the wrong stop, and waited outside in the freezing cold until Sisaret Heggie and Nielsen could arrive to bail us out and take us to their apartment. Turns out, we were stuck in what is a pretty sketchy area of town, but nothing eventful happened, other than realizing that our train was coming to the other side of the tracks, and sprinting in pencil skirts to the other side before it pulled out again. I stayed in Espoo with Sisar Heggie, and the other sisaret headed back to Herttoniemi to do work in our area. This week happened to be interim training, when new missionaries and their trainers get some intensive training all together with the mission president. Sisar Heggie got a phone call, and I could hear her say, "Does Sisar Dayton need to come get our running shoes from us for the week?" and my heart skipped a beat. Sisar WHO??? Coming HERE??? TONIGHT??? The big van pulled up, driven by the assistants, and I could hardly hold in my excitement as I ran out to surprise her. "Splits day!!" we gave each other several HUGE hugs, and took a couple photos. She has been one of the highlights of my mission, and with the exception of our one transfer together as companions, I've always been in a different zone from her, so this was a major treat. :)

Splits on Tuesday with Sisar Heggie was really fun. Like transferring, splits can sometimes give new wind to old sails, and I felt refreshed and renewed by a new area, and a different companion, albeit one I used to live with. We talked to a lot of people on the street and on the commuter trains, and got to do some service. We cleaned windows for a couple in the ward, and they have this really nifty cleaning kit with a window dryer that we had fun playing around with. One of the exterior kitchen windows had to be opened, and it only opened upwards, so I got a good arm workout, holding it up while Sisar Heggie cleaned. The two of us were able to talk a lot about the work, hoe we're each doing, old times, inside jokes, etc. It was a long, busy, lovely day. We finished with a lesson with two outstanding investigators from Taiwan who blew me away with their faith and understanding. It's one of the greatest feelings as a missionary, and one that doesn't come every single day. I returned to Herttoniemi tired, but ready to keep going in my own area with renewed enthusiasm.

Wednesday was the whopper of all crazy days. We did our normal morning routine (we accomplished my goal of reading the entire Book of Mormon in Finnish as we read Moroni 10 during language study! HUZZAH!!) and went out the door, ready to take our leftover P-Day time to do some grocery shopping. As Sisar S closed the door, a panicked look suddenly sprang to her face. "Keys!" I am the key-carrier of the companionship, since we only have one set for our apartment. I'd given them to Sisar S for exchange day, and we'd both forgotten to put them back in my bag, and now the keys to our apartment, as well as the church, were locked safely behind the other side of a door! We knocked on the door of a neighbor who's become a friend of ours, and she let us use her phone. Sisar S remembered the phone number for the Turku sisaret (her previous phone number) and we called them, got the number for the assistants who have our spare key (whose number we of course did not write down in our planners) and called THEM. As previously mentioned, it was interim week, which only happens once every two months. And of course, it is during this time that we lock ourselves out. The elders were participating in the training in Espoo, leaving us without a good backup. Well, we might as well go out and get some protein bars from the sports store. We heard they only cost 50 cents! We go, I break my THIRD umbrella on my mission in the windy rain, and finally get to XXL to grab 5 euros worth of protein-y goodness, all the while trying to figure out some possible way to avoid paying the fee for the man to come unlock our apartment for us. We figured that it was probably just best for us to go home and be accountable (Elder Christofferson would be so proud!). We made our way through Stockmann department store to "save time", but it just so happened that it was the first day of their "Hullut Päivät" sale, and we got lost in a swarm of retail-hungry Finns before we could finally emerge and make our way to the metro. We got home, called the man, payed only 10 euros each for his services, which was a relief (and I had cash this time!) and then went and bought food. Relief, right? Well, this day is not over yet! We were all ready to head out and go knock on the door of a member family to get to know them better, and we realized that we didn't have a treat to give them! Sisar S and Sisar Nielsen made a point of eating all the eggs when I was in Espoo because they know I don't like them, which was a nice thought, although now we were limited as to our treat options. Also, no peanut butter meant no no-bakes. We scanned our missionary cook book for ideas, and we finally found one that just listed cake mix, powdered sugar, milk, and butter. We had ALL of those things!! We started to put it together, and then I read the instructions more closely. "It says we have to MAKE the cake! We have no eggs! What do we do??" We'd already put sugar in the blender to make powdered sugar (neat little trick, huh?), and mixed the other ingredients together. As a desperate I-no-longer-care-just-get-this-done move, we simply added cake mix, put it in the freezer for a couple minutes, and ended up with "fudge". (This has proven to be one of the funniest adventures of my mission!) We head out again, with keys in hand, and end up taking a bus driven by a potential investigator. We chat for a while, and then we get off to try to find our members. They live in an area we haven't explored as much, and it is apparently a wealthy area, since we soon found ourselves surrounded by mansions! I later found out that former presidents of Finland have lived in these places! We nervously approach the right door of the right house, rind the bell, and the family's not home. Their teenage son takes our offering with a slightly questioned look on his face, and that is that. Time to go home for good, unwind by taking some silly photos, and call it a day. FINALLY.

We spent Thursday and Friday with members, doing service and missionary role plays. We made a card with an elderly sister, which we mailed off to a family in the ward. It was a pretty weird card- a dinosaur and some clouds in the front, and random hearts on the inside. But it was fun to do together, and good way to help our friend participate in service. She wrote the note so it would be untraceable, and it was overall a fun time. When we mailed it off, I tried to copy her handwriting, because we realized too late that she should've been the one to address the envelope. Friday night we got to meet with our favorite member family from the ward. They're a couple with grown children, one of whom is serving a mission right now. We've been doing some role play games with them, and we always have fun getting to know them better. It's rewarding to see members open up not just to us more, but to the idea of missionary work, and accept challenges to apply it more in their everyday lives. We're excited to go back in another week or so to see how they did with our challenge of mentioning the gospel in everyday ways.

Saturday was the day that made up for all of the previous craziness. We woke up early to get ready for a lesson with an investigator. As we arrived at the church, we realized that, for the second time in a week, were locked out of our apartment, meaning that we also didn't have our church key. The investigator didn't show up, after all. Well, the other sisters had a baptism that afternoon, and they probably had a lot to do. So we called them, they came over to the church and let us in, and we got to work cleaning, organizing, setting up chairs and tables for refreshments, cutting up vegetables, the works. It was, like such things often are, a bigger task than we'd imagined, and it was a blessing to have been locked out, since it gave us the chance to help our friends in need. The elders came with a spare key for us, so further crisis was averted. We headed off to the metro to meet and walk with a friend who was interested in coming. He's from Morocco, which means his native language is FRENCH! I had so much fun talking with him as we walked along the street to the chapel! His Finnish is top-notch, so Sisar S got to teach as well, which is good because she's so wonderful at it. He couldn't actually stay, but we did a mini church tour and gave him a copy of Le Livre de Mormon and arranged another meeting. Best part, HE LIVES IN OUR AREA!! At last!! We were beaming when he told us. The baptism was incredible. Amazing talks. Strong testimonies from everyone, including the man of honor. I've been blessed to attend 4 baptisms during my mission, and they've all been fantastic. It all reminded me of that time, TWO MONTHS ago, when Sisar N and I were preparing for Joy's big day. I love reliving those moments in my mind. I was all smiles for the service, and the other sisaret couldn't have been more pleased with their friend. After the service, a member asked if we had time to do some service for her at their house. We went shortly after the baptism, and helped around the kitchen. We had the opportunity to talk with their 14-year old daughter, who is smart, insightful, giving, sincere, and every good thing. She's pretty amazing. It was a lot of fun, and she helped us with some language tips. Her dad's sisters live in Oulu, and they were some of my favorite people up there, so that was a fun connection for me. The mother of the family offered to give us a ride home, and we accepted, since it was getting late. She spaced a bit and took us to the other sister's apartment, but we nevertheless felt good about just getting out there and going home on the metro. On our way to the metro, we saw two girls on the street. We walked past, and we both got the strong feeling to go back and talk to them. I almost couldn't keep moving my feet forward, the feeling was so strong. We went back and said hi, but our conversation didn't really go anywhere. Strange. At the metro stop, a man called out, "Hey, Hansen!" It was our bus driver friend from the other night! We was standing and talking to a friend of his from the States, who gave us his business card and told us to call. If we hadn't been dropped off at the wrong place, or took a moment to talk to those girls, or made friends with that bus driver, that wouldn't have happened. A miracle day for us, and a great end to the week.

Sunday we went to church, and watched the last session of conference. I loved conference. I came in with one big question on my mind and in my study journal, and came out with answers from just about every single talk. The emphasis on covenants and obedience really struck me, as well as the emphasis on families. There were a lot of talks I loved, but Elder Christofferson's stuck out quite a bit for me. It was a special moment, watching Elder Bednar give his talk, remembering that so recently, he'd been with us missionaries in a full room, answering our personal questions. I love conference time as a missionary, because it's a natural and easy way to bring up the gospel in conversations, and to encourage members to do just a little bit better tomorrow than they did today (another great theme from conference!). 

This week's entry has been huikea (enormous) and I wasn't able to express a lot of what went on this week, but it was a good one, and I'm excited for this next one. Be good. Review your conference notes. Read Preach My Gospel. Eat your vegetables (and plenty of protein). I love you all.

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hansen 

Note from Karlan's mom

Kar didn't have time to write a blog post this week, but she did send a note to her dad and to me.  She was able to watch some of conference in English via an internet stream set up at the ward building.  Because of the time difference (she's about 10 hours ahead of us in WA) the ward members watched some sessions live, and others that were recorded.  Here's a snippet from her letter to me:

"Sisar S and I baked authentic Finnish pulla (everyone was impressed because we're American) and had a little "tea party" before the women's broadcast. A less active woman, who we have been teaching, and who has been less active for so long that she's scared to come to church, came to our tea party, which is probably her first time in the church building in years! She also watched the RS broadcast, but we won't find out what she thought about it until we go back and visit. Between sessions of conference yesterday we had just enough time to take some of the remaining pulla to a member family we've been working with, and then run back to the church."

All in all an amazing week, Karlan reports.  She is loving her mission!

Trunky Letter

I certainly didn't get a trunky letter this week, but my companion did! And she's only ONE TRANSFER ahead of me! That means that in another two short months, I will get my very own trunky letter, bugging me about solidifying my travel plans home! Ahhhh!! I don't know how it happened, but I have been on my mission for a long time! Just 5 more months, and time keeps going by faster each transfer! 

An amazing thing about time, is that it allows us to see things previously unseen, or see the results of previously-unfolded miracles. Sometime during my service with Sisar Nabatnikova in Lappeenranta, we met a nice-looking woman on the street, with her two kids. We chatted for a bit, got her phone number, but there didn't seem to be a lot of obvious interest on her part, beyond us being gal pals. Nevertheless, Sisar N would occasionally give a reminder that maybe we should call "that one lady". We finally got in contact with her one day, and she told us that she was getting ready to move to Helsinki in about a week or so. We offered to help, and set up a time to go pack and clean at "Jamie's" house. While we helped her out, we chatted, and learned more about her, and it was soon obvious that things have not been easy for Jamie. We were able to teach the Restoration with her, and she quickly asked how a person could join our church. We discussed baptism, but since she was leaving so soon, and so we didn't take it so far beyond a nice little discussion. We did get her new address in Helsinki, and permission to forward her information to the elders in her area. Flash forward a couple months or so, and as Sisar Schellenberg and I sat on a bus on the way home from an appointment, we get a phone call from the one-and-only Elder Downs. She answers, and quickly hands the phone over to me. "Sisar Hansen! Jamie's getting baptized tomorrow at the Haaga chapel! Do you think you two could come?" Rejoicing in one of the many perks of serving in Helsinki and in close proximity to other wards, I quickly confirmed that we could indeed finagle some time to come to the baptism! Elder Downs told me all about how she's been a golden investigator, how she's changed dramatically, and how she even takes insanely good notes in her scriptures. Apparently, on their first meeting, she jumped straight into the question of baptism, and how it works! 

I remember when Sisar Heggie and I met Joy on the bus. There was an instant feeling of, "This one is special." We never doubted that she would take right off, and be excited to get baptized. I never felt that way with Jamie. She was just another woman on the street, with whom we decided to strike up a conversation. Helping her pack to move was nice, but I wondered if things would go well once she had a change of pace in her life. Maybe she'd forget about the church. Maybe she'd meet with the elders once and lose interest. Who knew? Well, the Lord knew. And He put her in our path for a very important reason. Not every "golden" person feels like gold upon first meeting. That's a big lesson that I learned recently. Sometimes miracles seem absolutely normal at first, because that's how we best learn to work for them. I went to give her a hug before her baptism. She told me she was feeling emotional about it all, and she looked like a different person than the one I'd first met on the street. She looked happier, with more purpose in her life. She looked like somebody who was so grateful to learn about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and to have the opportunity to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. It was a wonderful service, and there was a lot of love in the air. I have been humbled by this experience, especially when I consider my original lack of faith. This is the third baptism I've been blessed to attend in Finland, and the second person who I've been able to teach, who has been baptized. It was such a joyful experience, to see her decide to come unto Christ, that she may "be perfected in Him." I pray that I will keep this in my memory as a reminder to just go for it, no matter how big and obvious the promptings of the Spirit may or may not be. Every person is a beloved child of God, who needs to know about Him so that they can return to His presence. I challenge you to think about that as you ponder your role in missionary work, and as you prepare to be edified by this weekend's GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! (Shameless plug!)

It has been a blessed week. We've felt like things have been going a bit slow around here. No progressing investigators, not a lot of potentials in a fairly new area, etc. But as we've decided to just go out and do good, sometimes doing service, sometimes doorbell-ditching some cookies at a member's house, we've met people on our way who have renewed our hope for this area. It's become pretty clear that Sisar Schellenberg and I have been placed here in order to build our area up, since it's historically been one of the less-explored areas of the ward. I'm humbled by, and grateful for the trust the Lord has put in me, to serve in this area with such a stellar companion, and to be in a position to take something small and simple, and start making it into something great. Throughout all of this, I've noticed that rejection doesn't scare me so much anymore, and I haven't lost faith that we have a purpose here, no matter how many days go by without a new investigator. Miracles happen as we strive for obedience, treasure up the word, and then go out and do the work diligently and selflessly. This so far has been my favorite transfer on my mission- Not that it's my favorite place, and I've had other companions with whom I've loved serving, but because I'm finally starting to get it! I'm finally starting to really love missionary work on the level that you hear recently returned missionaries talk about over the pulpit at Sacrament meeting. I'm upbeat and positive, while still maintaining my more quiet personality, and I'm finding how Karlan Hansen fits into missionary work in Finland. I'm seeing results as I look for small miracles, and exercise patience that time will reveal things to me that I would not myself imagine.

This church has blessed me with so much! Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are the source of every good thing in my life, and I want my life to be a reflection of my gratitude. I'm more and more positive every day on my mission that I'm becoming truly converted, so that the fear that missionaries often have of going back home and transitioning back into being the same person as before, is being washed away. I'm still me, but a much better version of me that I would have become in any other way, and for that, I will praise the Father forever. When the time comes and I do get my own trunky letters, I'll be sad, but I know that this full-time missionary service is just a short phase in the greater plan, one that time will help me to appreciate as I eventually go back to the States and resume a "normal civilian" life, developing talents and making plans that are impossible while wearing a nametag. It's a blessing and a treasure to be here in the meantime.

Kiitos hyvin paljon for the love and support. It's working.

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hansen

Sisar Schellenberg and me

ANOTHER broken umbrella! Curse the Finnish winds! Good photo op, though.

Bonjour!

First of all, I am pleased to announce that Protein Week was a roaring success! We went all-out, and bought chicken, ground beef, nuts, dairy, and even a big bag of protein powder to mix into a smoothie. We made protein-packed granola bars to take along with us, and we always make sure to have a good snack packed in our bags. As I've continued to drink enough water and as we focus more on exercising well in the morning, my excess exhaustion has vanished away. I still feel more than ready to plunge into bed at night, but no more does the inclination strike me during language study!

Speaking of language, I cannot believe the amount of French I've spoken so far in Helsinki! My poor companion stands on the sidelines as I "parler" with people from different parts of the world. Actually, she bravely steps in, adding a testimony or a comment in English, as part of a conversation she can't even understand. It takes guts to do that. We've given away a "Livre de Mormon", and while none of these Francophones are actual investigators yet, we've got some solid potentials coming out of these conversations.

We had the opportunity to attend the temple last Friday, and it, of course, was wonderful. I love when I go to the temple and I can get something out of it that I never got before. Going to the temple just feels like coming home after a long day, and it's often a more efficient way to feel rested than P-Day! The day we went just happened to also be Mission Leadership Council day, so we were joined by President and Sisar Watson, as well as all of the zone leaders, sister training leaders, and president's assistants! There was a huge group of Russians there, and I used my very limited Russian skills to say hello to a lady who looked like she wanted to talk to me. She asked if I lived in Finland (I think) and I told her that, yes, I live in Finland, because I'm a missionary, and this is my companion. She lit up and excitedly started speaking in fast-paced Russian, which I did not understand in the least, and continued even when I told her that I don't speak the language. I gave her a "nice to meet you" in Russian on our way out, and she lit up again, spoke more excited Russian, and looked like she might tear up a little bit. I have no idea what she said, or why she felt the way she did, but it was a very touching moment for me to be able to give a form of service to somebody in a unique way.

We've yet to find a lot of people in our area so far, but we're making plans to find those whom the Lord has prepared to accept the gospel and be baptized. The rejection we receive no longer gets me down, and more and more, I'm able to serve cheerfully and boldly. I still suffer from shyness, and have times when I absolutely do not want to talk to that person, but I always feel so warm, safe, empowered when I follow the promptings of the Spirit, and act in a way that I know I'm supposed to. The Lord is so consistent, and blesses us for our diligence. I read Preach My Gospel chapter 11 this past week, and it talks all about how obedience is a form of repentance, which leads to a mighty change in ourselves for the better, which brings about the blessings of God. It's a miraculous thing. I'm blessed and happy to take part in this.

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hansen

Protein Week

Oh, the fatigue! It seems to come and go, and I'm struggling to figure out the pattern behind all of it, if there is one. Sisar Schellenberg has been keeping a list of possible causes (she loves lists- one of the reasons I like her), and we're still scratching our heads a little. I don't know how I made it through church yesterday, especially since it's back to the normal 3-hour block, which is a lot longer than Lappeenranta's 2 hours. I've taken a few naps to get by, but it never seems to completely go away. We had a few procedural questions for President Watson last night, and I took the opportunity to fill him in on my physical status. He asked about my diet, and then suggested that I eat more meat and get more protein to keep myself going. Having just recently served with a vegetarian, it almost seemed strange for somebody to actually advise me to consume animals, but I do love a good piece of beef, and so today at the store we bought beans, peanut butter, sausage, ground beef, and even some protein powder in a big bag. It is protein week in Herttoniemi, and we are going all-out. My nothing-if-not-organized toveri even re-arranged one of our cupboards last night, and designated it as Sisar Hansen's easy-to-reach protein shelf. There's a can of tuna, some nuts, sunflower seeds, and miscellaneous left overs from the last sisters that lived here. We finally got around last night to baking the chicken we'd bought last week, and I only snoozed through the last 10 minutes of language study today, so there could be something to this. I've got a protein powder-laced smoothie in my water bottle for on-the-go snacking as we go to our appointments today. We are not doing this by halves, no sir!

As I mentioned in my last post, last Friday was mission conference with Elder Bendar! He and Elder Ballard had been touring around Europe, and we were blessed to have some time with an apostle, just us missionaries. Another highlight of the conference was seeing mission friends. As we walked from the train station to the Haaga chapel, I was suddenly seized from behind in a death-grip disguised as a hug. It was such a startle, that I punched myself right in the face! My crankiness over the face-punching lasted just a couple of seconds, because how can I be upset at SISAR NYMAN?? I was giddy to see her, and even more excited that since she's now in Lappeenranta, we'll see each other again at zone meetings. One person who I, unfortunately, do not get to see at such meetings, is the incomparable Sisar Dayton. As we approached the doors of the chapel, my heart leaped in my chest a bit, and I thought, "It's HER!!" Serving with her has been one of the highlights of my entire mission, and I hugged her until I thought my arms would fall off. I got to chit-chat with sisters serving in my old areas, and one of the sisters now serving in Lahti told me that a certain maaaaan who Sisar Daytooooon and I would sometimes meeeeet on the buuuuuuuuuuuus asked her if she knew Sisar Hansen! Ahhhh!!! I don't know if you remember me mentioning him in one of my posts from way back in May(?) but it's good to hear that I've made an impression on somebody who's also made an impression on me. :) At the end, we arranged ourselves by height, of course taking more time than we anticipated, to take a mission photo. I'll look forward to seeing that one.

As for the conference itself, we've had a lot of members ask us what Elder Bednar said to us. One of the best parts was the first thing that came out of his mouth: "It's easy to tell that you have prepared." Too many would-be spiritual experiences are blocked off by lack of preparation. We'd read talks, prayed, and asked questions throughout the mission to prepare for this event, and it all paid off. We had what turned out to be a question-and-answer session with an apostle. He asked us what we'd learned from our preparations, and then we had time to ask him questions. The Spirit was undeniably strong, and I very early on found a good answer to the question I'd been prompted to write down as we quietly waited for our guest speakers to enter the chapel. From that answer, I got a lot of follow-up answers, some to questions I didn't even know I'd had! One thing that was stressed to us in the beginning was the importance of proper note-taking. Instead of writing down what he said, the rule was to write down what we heard- what the Spirit communicated to us. That rule was a game-changer that allowed us all to receive personally tailored revelation from the conference. I walked away feeling lighter than a feather. I hope the same goes as Sisar Schellenberg and I take our saved-up P-Day time to go to the temple this week. As tired as I am, the temple is sure to be a welcomed refuge and place of rest.

I continue to enjoy the work here in the Marjaniemi ward. The people are wonderful, even when we get lost/lose our phone and can't show up, or explain why we can't show up! But we've been given opportunities to serve, and I've had opportunities to use my French powers for good! Not only do we have a French investigator, but on TWO separate contacting occasions, I was straight-up asked if I speak French, to which I gladly replied, "Oui!" Maybe that's one reason why I've been called to serve here.....

Last week was a dream week. I pray that the spirit of that week will continue with me for the rest of my mission, and even beyond. I'd invite you, as General Conference draws near, to ponder how you can prepare to receive and record revelation during that special time.

Jumalan Siunasta teille!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hansen

Greetings, from Berry Point

"Berry Point" is the rough translation of Marjaniemi. We're located in the eastern portion of Helsinki, which is beautiful and fairly peaceful. It's a big departure from Lappeenranta- There it might take well over an hour to cross from one end of our area to the other by car, and our entire area here spans 3 metro stops! Sisar S and I are getting used to things, and despite some stress on the first couple days, a completely new perspective on things is refreshing and invigorating. We're almost constantly lost, and we have to make a lot of, "So, we thought we knew where we were going, but now we're lost and we'll be a bit late" phone calls. Our goals for this week include learning how to get around more efficiently, and arrive places on time. Good goals, I would say.

We had a supplementary stake conference yesterday in lieu of normal church. It was a bit surreal to get up and just get on the public transport to the Helsinki center, rather than arrange a ride with a member from 3 hours away. Although it's only been a week, I was thrilled to see familiar faces from Lappeenranta. The Relief Society president and her family were there, and they had my favorite chocolate in-hand, ready to give me. I got to see missionary friends from around the zone. I lost track of the amount of hugs Joy and I exchanged before and after the conference. I love her more than I can possibly say, and I'm thankful every day that she's been part of my experiences here in Finland. She said that she misses me already, and my favorite part, when she thinks of me, it makes her want to be a missionary. I got a bit emotional at that one, must admit. One lovely surprise is that my favorite member from Lahti just so happened to be there, although Lahti is in the Tampere stake. When I saw her post-conference and she saw me, I started jumping up and down, and gave her an enormous hug. She is so wonderful! Sisar S was trained in Lahti, so we both enjoyed chatting and catching up with our former area. I didn't want to make a big deal of leaving Lappeenranta, and I didn't want to take the focus of church last week away from Christ in order to proclaim my imminent departure, so when I informed one of the Lappeenranta ward members that we actually don't need a ride home because I live in Helsinki now, he was a bit surprised, and then I pointed him in the direction of Sisar N and her new toveri. President and Sisar Watson were in attendance, and I got to spend a brief moment chatting with each of them. He's glad that I'm excited about my new assignment, and as we were standing close to Joy, he pointed at her and whispered to me, "That is what this is all about. For all of eternity. Treasure it." He's right, and I do. And not just Joy, but the other wonderful people I've been blessed to serve with in Finland.

I've had renewed energy this past week. I still struggle to feel rested, even though I sleep through the night. But I've been dealing with fatigue much better lately. I can be 100% completely open with Sisar S, and so when I say that I'm getting really sleepy and a bit cranky, and we probably need to wrap up planning in a timely manner, she understands, and we get the night's tasks done in a quick and orderly manner so I can collapse into bed. I feel like things like praying always, being exactly obedient, following counsel from leaders, etc, has been so easy the past few days. My new toveri has been a huge influence for good in my life, and it doesn't even feel like work much of the time. She's a talented teacher, and has a good head on her shoulders. She's good at identifying peoples' needs and thinking of how we can serve them. When I got my change call to come here, Sisar N, who served in the other Marjaniemi area for a full YEAR, got really excited and told me that in my new area is an investigator from....wait for it.....LA FRANCE!!! We've met with "Camille" a couple times now, and she is absolutely lovely. We've exchanged some texts in French, and she parler-ed with me when we got lost trying to find her place and we called for directions. Her children speak a mixture of French and Finnish, which J'ADORE. 

I've heard say that it's difficult to talk to people in Helsinki. I thought that I didn't really want to ever serve here, because I've never lived in a big city before, and I don't know how I'd like it. Well, Helsinki isn't actually so very big itself, metro contacting is less intimidating to me than street contacting, and we've been stopped by FINNS more than a couple times now, offering to give us directions places as we look through our map books on the sidewalk. This is a fun place. It's also fun to serve with other fantastic missionaries. Sisar Knapp from my MTC group is Fresh from Oulu this week, and her toveri is bright and hilarious. It was wonderful to chat with them for a bit as we got everyone situated in their new apartments. Sisar Knapp and I could gush for hours about how much we love Oulu, if we had the time. She's so honest and sincere, and a wonderful missionary, and it's a pleasure to serve near her. It's also good to have people to ask questions to about the area when we need some extra help. On a funny note, Siasr S and I decided that we want to make a big batch of borscht this week so that we can have a quick and easy lunch option. We gathered all of the ingredients at the grocery store this morning. As we arrived at the chapel to send our emails, we get a call from the other sisaret, walking through the grocery store, asking us what ingredients they need for borscht!

Things are looking up here in Berry Point. I love my new ward, my new companion, my new apartment, and my new area. My toveri speaks fantastic Finnish, and is a wonderful example of someone who simply wants to be the best follower of Christ that she can be. I'll have the opportunity to visit the temple once this transfer, since it's so close. I'm unable to fully absorb the love that Heavenly Father lets me feel for the people of Finland. As a missionary, that's probably the best part- a keen awareness of just how much Heavenly Father loves His children. The other best part is seeing them make a connection with Him and act in ways that will bring them closer to His presence. I look forward to another week here, hopefully a week where we arrive places on time, especially to our long-anticipated mission conference with David A. Bednar this Friday.

I had an impression a week or two ago to photocopy my mission call and place a mini version on one of the front pages of my copy of Preach My Gospel. Opening my mission call letter was one of the most profound experiences of my life, and there have been times of darkness on my mission where I felt like I couldn't go on, only to re-read my letter, and re-visit that sacred moment of opening my call to serve in the Finland Helsinki mission. It's a reminder to me of my purpose, which is to "invite others to come unto Christ". I still have moments where I look at that piece of paper and think, "Is this real? Is this MY life?" and I'm overjoyed to realize that yes, this is. Somehow, this is where the Lord has decided that this is where I need to be, at this time, with these people, and I thank Him every day for His wise purposes that I try to fulfill. 

The church is true! Riemuitsekaa! Happy to be calling out the invitation here in Berry Point.

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hansen

Joy and me at conference

Sister Schellenberg and I being girly and deep-cleaning our pores
(the only photo we have together so far)