Finnish Names are Haaaaard!

I get to know Oulu and its inhabitants more and more each week. This is very good, since the better I know people, the more I know how I can work with them. HOWEVER, the more people I get to know, the more I realize that Finnish names are quite difficult for me. For example, let's say a new baby boy is born. What shall his name be? Jani? Janne? How about Joni, Jouni, or Johannes? (All pronounced differently, of course.) If she's a girl, how about Henna, Helena, or Elena? And the parents' last name is something like Kemppainen or Laitinen, they're sure to meet a fair few people with their same name. See how that can get a bit confusing for a Soumi newbie like myself? And then there are first names like Terttu, Kari, Kaisu, Tuomo, which, when I see them written out on paper, give me no clue whatsoever if they belong to a man or a woman.

Things have been pretty busy over on my end. I learned a lot from my exchange with Sisar Francis-One thing was that it is nearly impossible to say no when Sisar Francis continuously offers you sweets. Another more important thing, is that there are many ways to do the same missionary work. I've been working on finding my personality as a missionary. Sisar Nyman and Sisar Vath are both wonderful, but they both also have ways of expressing themselves that can be quite different than mine. So my challenge is to find a way to be 100% myself, while still balancing out companions with different strengths and weaknesses than I do. Sisar Francis helped me think about that a lot, and between working with her, and working with Sisar Vath, whose manner of speaking are both very different, I am getting more of a feel for how I like to phrase things, how I like to talk to people in the street, or at the door, and how Sisar Hansen connects with people.

Off with the old tires, on with the snow tires!

During our week-long exchange, Sisar Francis also had an exchange set up with the Vaasa sisters, so I did an exchange-within-an-exchange. Sisar Foster was my companion for a day last Tuesday. Her Finnish is incredible! She's bright and very energetic. She also rides a bike faster and more energetically than I thought humanly possible! We did some service for an older sister in the branch who lives by herself, and who is always so happy to see missionaries come by. She loves to talk, and does so very fast, so I don't catch a whole lot of what she says, but she seems to like having me around anyway. Then we went to find some former investigators and catch up with some potential investigators, but we ran into some difficulties along the way- I.E., my abysmal sense of direction, plus the fact that Sisar Foster has never actually spent more than about a day in Oulu. We stopped a man on a bike and asked for some directions to a particular adress, and he told us we could just follow him there! He took us right up to the exact building! He left before we could talk with him, which was a bit of a bummer, but we really appreciated his act of service. Our last appointment of the day was with a man named "Perry" for email purposes. He's investigated for a long time, but hasn't been able to make a real commitment to prepare for baptism. I'd visited him once with Sisar Vath on my second day here, so he recognized me. We were talking a bit with him and a sister from our ward about how life is going, when suddenly, a long, fuzzy blur races past along the floor. Turns out, it was Ettu, the ferret! He wasn't around when I was there before, so I was a bit surprised to see him. Perry picked him up and told us about how Ettu has been sick, and can only eat bananas. Then when we started with our lesson, and Perry asked me if I could give the prayer, he asked me to pray that his dear ferret could get better. I couldn't remember the word he'd used for ferret, so, for the first time in my life, I prayed outloud for a blessing on a sick ferret by its name. Poor Ettu- please get better!

Our branch president's son got back from his mission a couple weeks ago, and has been called as an assistant to our branch mission leader. He's been really helpful in getting us more organized, and in helping us by getting to know our investigators, and helping us find solutions to their needs. He also helped us organize a meal calendar, so that means more dinner appointments with members, and more opportunities to teach them how to do their own missionary work. Hopefully we can also see some potential investigators invited to these dinner appointments, so that we can talk about the gospel in a warm and friendly setting. It's also great that we have another young single adult around, because those have been in short supply lately, and it's good to have somebody who is in the same stage of life as some of our younger investigators. Overall, we do have a wonderful group of member missionaries in Oulu. I'm always impressed by how active they are and how they seek for opportunites to share the gospel with others. I've also never seen so many ward misisonaries in some of the larger wards I've been in, let alone a branch with less than 100 active members!

In weather news, the snow has finally come and stuck around. It was frostier than a late-90s boyband member's hair for a few days, and then the real stuff came down and shows no signs of going away soon. It was a bit scary riding through it for the first time. I've had a few moments where I've had to slam my feet on the ground to stop myself from falling, but that's about as bad as it's been. Even going up and down hills gets pretty easy with some practice. This mission has already shown me that there are things I never thought I could do, like ride a bike around corners and down hills in the snow! I hope I will see the same kind of things happen on a spiritual level, as well.

We got to go to a baptism on Saturday!! "Jimmy", a young man the elders had been teaching, got baptized, and it was a wonderful service. Lots of people came, and he gave a very touching testimony after he was baptized. He was all smiles, and glowing. The sister playing the piano as we waited for him to change back into normal clothes played the songs we sang at MY baptism 16.5 years ago. I was flooded with memories, even though a lot of the details of that day are very hazy to me. I still remember how I felt, though, and even though I was only 8 years old, I knew that it was a very special day in my life, and that it would stick with my forever. So far, so good.

Bowling on a P-Day last month.  The Sister in the blue
shirt and glasses is my comp, Sister Vath

Monday this week was just a normal day. We moved P-Day to Wednesday, so we could have a Thanksgiving party after our district meeting. Sisar Vath and I made pumpkin pie (4 euros for a small can of pie filling we had to go to a special store to find, but it turned out delivious!) and coconut macaroons (They're not very Thanksgiving-y, but she reasoned that she loves them, and she's not American anyway.) Our district meeting itself was fantastic, as they usually are. We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon, its purpose, and how we need to use it more as we teach others about the gospel. Then we sat down to eat- there was turkey, stuffing, vegetables, potatoes, gravy, yams, rolls, and probably other things I can't even remember. I left the building feeling borderline sick, which is how Thankgiving should be. One of the sisters in our branch found the pie recipe for us, and since she's never tasted pumpkin pie before, we have a slice saved just for her. It felt good to have a short time where it felt like home, even though I'm so far away. :)

Well, that's all the big news. I think. I barely have time to even write in my journal these days, so I hope I don't forget about any of the big things. We have a special series of meetings next week for all new missionaries and their trainers, down in Helsinki. I'll get to see everybody I knew from the MTC, and hopefully learn more about how to contact people better, because I'm pretty bad at it so far. (When your companion prays for you to be able to speak to people naturally and confidently while we contact, you KNOW you've got a weakness to work on!) A group of us are going to sing a Christmas song together, which hopefully we'll find some time to practice. Sisar Vath and I will be staying with Sisar Knapp and her companion in Espoo, to which I say, "YAYY!!!!" We have to get on a plane around 5:30am on Monday morning to get there, but Sisar Vath makes it sound like it'll be a pretty great week, so I look forward to it. Although she DOES get to go to the temple while I'm in language school, so that gives her extra reason to be excited. I really hope I can learn a lot from training next week so I can be more effective in my day-to-day missionary work. I have a long way to go, but I know I'm still fairly new to all of this. That being said, the time goes by so fast! Before I know it, I'll be talking about my mission in the past tense! Ahhh! Better enjoy it while it lasts!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Hansen

"Crickly-Crack" Go the Studded Bike Tires

It is now mandatory studded bike tires season in the Finland Helsinki mission, although the ground remains pretty dry most of the time. Although yesterday the wind was so bad, that we ended up walking to our destination to avoid being blown off our bikes. It's hard to dress for the weather, because if I wear an extra sweater under my coat, I'm fine when I'm just walking around, but it gets too hot when I ride my bike, so there's a bit of a delicate balance that takes place. The elders here have the largest area, so they get the car, in addition to their wearing pants. We've gotten to borrow it on occasion if they don't need it, or are out of town on an exchange. Whenever we hand the keys back over to them, I sing to myself, "Each life that touches ours for good...." Ah well, the bike riding improves every week, and I'm probably in better physical shape than I have been since high school! Blessings of missionary service!

Things are a bit weird right now. We were scheduled for an exchange with the other Oulu sisters on Friday, but it ended up turning into a week-long deal, so I am sitting at a computer, typing this out next to Sisar Francis. She's my age and from Australia. I'm also sleeping at her place, which is screwing up my already faltering sense of direction, but I get to know different parts of Oulu better. Spending time with Sisar Francis has made me reflect on my relationship with Sisar Vath quite a bit, and on how much I really do under-appreciate her. She's an amazing missionary, and I have way more to learn from her than I thought! She has a very different set of talents than I do, and I'm finding more and more ideas of how to use that to our advantage as I have sometime to look at things from afar. AND the good thing about spending P-Day apart is that I can now solve the problem of how I'm supposed to secretly and stealthily get her a present for her upcoming birthday.

There's a quote from my favorite film, where one of the characters says to another, "There's a grave difference between the expectation of an unhappy event, and it's final certainty." You know going in that the mission is going to be hard in certain ways. You know that rejection will come. You know that there will be people who you love, but who will not progress. I've seen a bit of that lately, and as much as you know it's coming, it stinks. It does not feel nice. But then you get those people who keep going, and even decide to get baptized (the elders have an investigator with a baptismal date this coming Saturday!) that you might not expect. Finnish people are not as non-verbally expressive as Americans or French people tend to be. It's not always easy for me to gauge a person's actual interest when I talk to them because their facial expressions don't always change so much, and the languages doesn't have the same kind of intonation as what I'm used to. We've tried to find times when we can do language study with a member, so that I can learn to listen to different accents and sharpen my comprehension skills.

Christmas time is in the air, which means lots of opportunities to invite people to activities! We have some wonderful member missionaries in Oulu, and when we extended the invitation to one family with 6 children last night at ther home to bring friends to the upcoming primary program/Independence Day party/Christmas party, I was so excited to hear that they'd already done just that! When I was a normal civilian, I used to think that full-time missionaries did sooooooo much, and we do have a very special calling to do a very special work. But members can do missionary work in a way that just isn't possible for a missionary like me. They can build close friendships with people from work, school, or other activities, which can make people feel more comfortable than a knock on the door. We have a "Book of Mormon Challenge" here in the Finland Helsinki mission. We invite members to buy 3 copies of Mormonin Kirja, write a testimony in each of them, then give 2 to the missionaries to give out, and find somebody to give the third to on their own. This is the part where I challenge YOU, dear reader, to do the same! Getting involved with the local full-time missionaries does not have to be a huge thing, but it will bring greater results than leaving them all the work. That continues to be clear to me as Oulu's member missionary force continues to get stronger.

The transition from the MTC to the mission field has been pretty difficult in some ways. I'm no longer surrounded by other missionaries all day, every day. The schedule is different. The situations are not staged- they're REAL! Real life is going on all around me. It hasn't always been so easy to wake up and say, "Wow, what a great day! How awesome it is to be here!" But those feelings are coming more and more often. I went to bed last night with a big smile on my face because I never thought I'd be on a mission, let alone in FINLAND, working with an amazing group of fellow missionaries. I never thought I'd learn such a difficult language and do so well at it. I never thought I'd be faced with opening a new area in my first transfer. I can already see how some of my challenges now will be blessings later. I can already see which things bring me joy in the work. And even on those days when that appointment cancels, or it rains and my scriptures get wet, or when nobody seems to want to have much to do with us, I know that the Lord wants me here. I'm rediscovering the love for Finland I felt when I opened my mission call. I don't know where else I will be called or who I will serve with, but I know that this is the perfect place for me to be. I know that this short time (It is seriously going by so fast- 3 months already?? Ahhh!!!) will have an impact on the rest of my life, and shape some of my major decisions differently than if I hadn't served.

For anybody reading this who may be considering a mission, DO IT. It's hard. It's downright rough at times. It's a completely different lifestyle. But 3 months in, I'm already a better version of myself than I was before. I've done things I never thought I'd be able to do. I haven't been here long enough to see many results of my service, but I know that I'm doing good and making some sort of impact on the people I meet. It's a big decision, but it's absolutely the right one!

Hyvää vikkoa kaikille!
Sisar Hansen

Update From Karlan's Mom

Hi everyone!

Karlan didn't send a blog post this week. Her computer time was limited, and she wanted to catch up on some individual email responses.
She is getting to know Oulu better, and finds that bike riding is getting easier as time goes by. Just a smidge of snow so far, but she'll be putting snow tires on her bicycle soon. Next month's district meeting is just before Christmas, and the missionaries have learned that it will be in Rovaniemi, the official hometown of Santa Claus! Kar is excited by the news, as she had hoped to visit there.

Thank you so much for the letters and support you have sent Karlan!

Lots of Learning Going on this Week

Dear Everybody Who Reads This:

I am getting into the routine of things around here. I'm starting to (kind of) know where things are- at least, landmarks look familiar to me as we ride past. Sisar Vath is great because she helps me memorize scriptures in Finnish as we ride. It takes my mind off the physical stress, invites the Spirit, and brings us closer as a companionship. We read the Book of Mormon together each day as part of language study, then I pick a verse to translate into English out loud, and she helps me as I go. It's such a blessing to have a companion who's practically a native speaker! So far it looks like I've had two very kind, loving, and especially patient companions. Hmm....What is the Lord trying to tell me, do you think???

It's still a bit slow finding new investigators, since all of the pre-existing ones live in the other areas. We found 3 more last week, which was great! Two of them don't actually seem so interested, but we'll just have to wow them with a fantastically spiritual lesson this next time, and then maybe they'll feel the Spirit telling them to give us some more time. We visited an elderly couple the other day. The wife has dementia, and can't remember much of anything for very long. She said, "Tervetuloa!" (Welcome!) enthusiastically countless times while we were there, and I wish I had a picture of how her face lit up when we asked if we could sing her a hymn. "Totta kai!" she excited shouted, loud enough to make me jump a little bit. When we asked her husband if he would say the prayer, he said that he didn't remember how. She said, "Of course you can!" and told him to repeat what we said. So when I said the closing prayer, I was surprised to hear HER voice echoing me as I started off, "Rakas Taivaallinen Isä..." What a sweetie! Her health doesn't really allow her to progress towards baptism, seeing as she can't even remember what the Book of Mormon is, let alone make it a part of her daily life, but I loved visiting with her. I hope we get to go back soon.

I've learned a lot this week about keeping the commandments and being a good girl, but also adapting to circumstances. The other day we spoke to a young man on the road who was quite decidedly against the very idea of religion, especially missionary work. He was one of those people that, no matter what we could have said, would have only responded with contention. The Spirit was not invited to that conversation. Our goal is to find and teach as many people as possible, and to invite everyone we talk to to come to church, let us know about any referrals, etc. But sometimes things are better left alone. It's better to leave people with a smile and no lesson or commitment, than to leave them angry and feeling invaded by our conversation. Another lesson came the next day, Sunday. As you may know, the first Sunday of the month is traditionally fast Sunday. It was also the first week for one of our investigators to come to church! We were really excited about "Rosie" (as I will refer to her, so as not to share her real name) coming with us, because she does really want to be baptized, and baptismal candidates first have to attend church at least 3 times. Now, you know from either knowing me already, or from reading my last post, that I am not athletic in any way. I'm getting better on my bike (We got my fancy-shmancy pain-free bike seat installed at zone conference, by the way! One of the elders makes fun of it routinely, everybody else thinks it's plain weird, but I love it, and it feels so comfortable!) but I still struggle a bit, like during the one-hour ride just to make it up to Rosie's house. Well, it turns out that even though it might be fast Sunday, if you and your companion promised to ride with a far-away investigator to church, it might be a good idea to just eat anyway. About 15 minutes into our ride, I started to regret my decision to fast this week. The rest of our ride to-and-from was horrendously difficult, and when we got to church, I barely had the energy to shake hands with members, let alone be an enthusiastic missionary. During sacrament meeting I started to lose the feeling in my legs, then in my arms! I've never outright passed out before, but I was about 35% convinced that I might add that to my list of life experiences before too long! After sacrament meeting, it became apparent that I really needed to go home, eat, and rest, so we handed off poor Rosie to the elders so they could show her and her daughter to Primary, and we got a ride from a member back to our apartment, where my wonderful companion made me a big batch of food and sent me to bed. Our appointment for that night had to cancel, so we stayed home, just to be safe, and make sure that I didn't exhaust myself again and get worse. Today I feel wonderful, energetic, and ready to take on the madness that is P-Day. So long story short (I know, too late!) obedience is so important, but sometimes, the Spirit will just lead you where it leads you, whether that be leaving a conversation early, or picking a different day to fast if you have to make a 2-hour bike journey of fast Sunday. :p

I'm going to be honest here- some days, some hours even, are extremely hard. Whether looking awkwardly at my companion to explain what somebody had just said to me, riding a bike uphill, calling a formerly enthusiastic potential investigator who just hangs up, or wondering when we'll find some more people to teach, this mission thing can be rough. I've also learned that sometimes when I'm not feeling 100%, I just have to remember that I have received such amazingly strong witnesses about my work here, and that's enough to keep me going until I re-discover the drive to go on. Sometimes it's hard to do the Lord's work, and it's okay to draw on better times for strength. I've told the Lord many times so far, "Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief." I know He's there, even when that door is shut in my face, or that appointment cancels. It makes the shouts of "Tervetuloa!" even sweeter.

I hope everybody has a great week! Find ways to share your love of the Savior by being a good friend to somebody else! It doesn't always have to be a big deal- just be a good example and let your light so shine! And please think of the missionaries if you know somebody who is in need- I know first-hand that missionaries are eager to give any kind of service, but opportunities aren't always apparent. Know somebody who's moving? Who needs something cleaned? Translated into another language? Someone who could use an uplifting song? Quoth Russel M. Nelson, "Ask the missionaries!"

-Sisar Hansen

"Sisar! Sisar!"

Terve, from SUOMI!!

It's so weird to think that I'm actually here, although it feels like home to me already. Everybody knows that I love Europe to a ridiculous degree, so you can imagine how good it feels to be back. It was a long trip over here, but fairly uneventful, which is good. Sisar Nyman and I tried our hand at contacting in the London airport, but nobody seemed all too excited to see us. One of the sisters that was in my MTC group unfortunately has some health issues that kept her from coming into the field with the rest of us, and she would've sat next to me on our flights, so contacting on the plane was a bit difficult, as I had nobody on one side of me, and two missionaries on the other side! I was of course exhausted when we arrived in Helsinki, but I was strong and stayed up until 9 or 10pm.

We had brief interviews with President Rawlings that night, and Sisar Rawlings made us a fabulous amount of food! She's a pretty accomplished cook, it turns out. It felt surreal, knowing that our tight-knit MTC group would soon break up. The thought of not seeing Sisar Nyman every day was not a happy one. But Wednesday afternoon at the mission office, we met our new companions! We had a bit of a ceremony as President Rawlings lined everyone up and called out pairs of names. When he announced that I would be with Sisar Vath, he took a minute to explain that our situation is totally unfair because she's from Finland! Her family moved here 8 years ago, so she knows all the ins and outs of Finnish language and culture. He also said that since I speak so well, it's especially unfair. (Mission president likes my Finnish! Confidence boost!!) Now, when our luggage was being loaded into trailers, one of the APs made a point of making sure my luggage was in his trailer, whereas all the other sisters' things were in the other one. At that moment, I knew that it was because I was the only one not taking a train, and therefore staying in Helsinki. Which explains why I am writing this email from beautiful Oulu. Yep, my first area of my mission is Oulu, the farthest north sisaret are allowed to serve! I wish I'd seen my face when Sisar Vath joyously filled me in on our assigned area. She's been here for 9 months or so, so she know everyone, ever place, and everything. YAY!! Seriously though, I have the best trainer! Can't say enough glowing things about her. Speaking of people I can't ever compliment enough, Sisar Nyman is ALSO in Oulu! The other two sisaret are in Espoo and Helsinki. At first I was a bit overwhelmed at the idea of being here, but I really like it, the people are nicer than in the big city, and I'll probably agree with a lot of missionaries I've talked to, that Oulu is the best. (And yes, one of our MTC group's elders is in Rovaniemi right now!) (PS-I've already found Sisar Christoffersen's name on some old paperwork!)

Oulu is a biking city, which is a bit of a challenge for me. I am not athletic at all, nor am I especially coordinated. Sisar Nyman and her toveri had to stay in Espoo for a few days before joining us up north, so I used Sisar Francis' bike for a while. Our very first appointment Thursday night was an hour's ride away, and it was raining the whole time! I won't lie and say it wasn't a struggle. I had a primary song going through my head the entire time, and I tried to remember why I was even on a bike to begin with- to help bring somebody closer to Christ. That made it doable. At one point, I didn't have enough momentum to get up a hill, but when I tried to get off my bike, I started slipping backwards, and I thought I'd just fall over and crash. I started panicking a bit, and I called out, "SISAR! SISAR!" SIsar Vath just sort of looked back and watched me struggle for a bit before I finally got my footing and hopped off. I got an ab workout laughing that one off! We reached our investigator's door soaking wet, with a sisar from our branch with us, and when he answered, he looked confused. "You were supposed to come yesterday!" This was the point where I had to remind myself not to cry! Haha! Well, he did let us in, even though he's a very busy student, and we had an amazingly spiritual lesson. It was worth every second of sore, wet legs!

Friday morning we rode out, and decided to street contact along our way. I've heard that Finns are introverted and don't like talking to strangers much. Sisar Vath called out to one woman, "Terve! Mitä sinulle kuuluu?" (Hello, how are you?) The woman looked at her as if she'd just stepped on a puppy, and said, "Minä en tunne teitä!! Minä en tunne teitä!!" (I don't know you! I don't know you!) I tried not to chuckle and remain dignified as we tried to convince her that all we wanted to do was talk to her about the Gospel for a bit. Hers was a pretty extreme case, though. Most people will talk to us for a little bit after they figure out that we haven't mistaken them for somebody we know. Sisar Francis says that people are much nicer about that here, than further south. Contacting is hard for me, since I understand so little, so I say hello, try to read body language, and wait for little pauses when they speak, so I can throw in something like, "Tämä evankeliumi antaa minulle iloa!" regardless of context, and then nod my head a bunch of times and smile because I have no idea what they're saying in response. I'm becoming a lot braver than I thought I could be- I just have to hone my language/listening to the Spirit skills.

Saturday was a big day where nothing got done. We tried to go bike shopping, but ended up walking around in circles for hours because the department stores no longer had bikes out, and the specialty shop was closed. UGH. I did get some warm winter accessories, though, so not a total loss. We actually convinced the elders to let us use the car this morning so we could successfully complete our pyörä quest. I found a little used red bike that's just perfect, and I no longer have to use another person's bike, or their bike seat, either! (Most of you probably know that normal bike seats are really uncomfortable/painful for me.) I also found a second-hand rain coat for 15 euros! HA! We went with the other Oulu Sisaret, so as a bonus, I got to see Sisar Nyman for a bit!

Yesterday was such a wonderful day! Our first Sunday at church, so of course they asked me to bear my testimony. I will tell you something, the Lord has given me the gift of tongues! (Irony: When your branch president says something about "puhua" and "lahja" in the same sentence, and you figure he's talking about missionaries having the gift of tongues, but you can't understand anything else he's saying!) I spoke so well, and so naturally! I think this is because some people (Like Sisar Nyman) have a natural talent for just talking to people, and I don't. When the branch members heard me speak, they came up to me, and it was such a relief! I find that in general, I speak much better than I understand. As fantastic as Velie Christiansen's accent is, he speaks much slower and clearer than actual Finns! But my companion helps me so much, and the Lord knows I'm trying hard, so I know it will come. I just feel so blessed with what I've been given already. We had dinner at our new branch mission leader's home, then off to teach a less-active member. Such a good, full, spiritual day!

My apartment is wonderful, I have a great bike, I'm speaking well, I'm riding better every day, my trainer is fantastic, and I still can't really believe that I'm actually ON MY MISSION, but I'm so glad that I am!

I have no idea how to send pictures, and we're out of library time, so I'll have to do that next week. Thank you to everybody who reads my posts and sends their love and support! I do my best to remember everyone in my prayers, because I've seen the Lord work miracles in me already in my short time as a missionary, and I want similar miracles for all of you! I am always tired, and my "natural man" (see: Mosiah 3:19) screams at me sometimes to just take a break or stop caring for a bit, but I know that the Lord has given me this very special, very short time to serve him with everything I've got, so I hope I can prove to Him to be a good investment.

Nähdään!

-Sisar Hansen

A Note from Karlan's Mom

Karlan and the other missionaries in her group left this morning for Finland! We got a brief phone call from Karlan this morning, telling us that she was still in SLC, waiting for a delayed flight to Chicago. Several people in the airport offered use of personal cell phones to the missionaries to allow them to call home while they waited. Karlan reports that one very thoughtful person even went so far as to buy breakfast for ALL 16 of the Finns! I talked to Kar's companion, Sisar Nyman, for a couple of minutes. What a terrific young woman. She and Karlan have grown to love each other, and I'm sure they will be eternal friends. Someone snapped a group photo of some of the Finns, and emailed them out so parents could have a copy. I love modern technology.

After Karlan called, I received another phone call from the airport--this one from the woman who had loaned Karlan her phone (she also called Kevin). She said she just wanted to let me know how impressed she was with the Finnish missionaries. She told me that Karlan was glowing, confident, happy, and doing well. "Thank you for sharing your daughter with me today. She made my day!" she said. No, you made MY day. How utterly thoughtful.

A longer phone call from Kar came in mid-afternoon after her plane landed in Chicago. Kevin and Michael and I enjoyed listening to her relate the story of the First Vision in Finnish(!) Wow. Kar is just on fire. She was so animated and excited on the phone. The missionaries will arrive in Helsinki after being up and about for almost 24 hours. They will get a tour of the Helsinki temple grounds, and will be tucked into bed at the mission home before receiving their assignments the next morning. Kar hopes to be able to spend some time in Oulu because they have a reindeer festival there every year.

Kar would love to hear from you. Her email address is karlan.hansen@myldsmail.net.

One Last Time From the MTC

AHHHH!!! NELJÄ PÄIVÄÄ until I leave for Suomi!!! Can this be real??! I've gotten to used to things in the MTC, it's almost weird to think that I'll ever be anywhere else. And yet, I feel so ready to go! I'm excited to get out there are do the work I've been called to do! I'm excited to meet new people in my mission and learn from them. I'm excited to be tested in new ways, although I know there will be rough times ahead as I adjust to a new way of applying everything I've been learning to do in the MTC.

Consecration Week is officially over, and it went by so fast! It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be! My companion is so disciplined, and eager to be obedient, that I can't help but be a better, harder-working person because of her. We still try to speak Finnish to each other and the other Finns at the MTC, but we no longer feel the need to do the awkward, "Oh, I do speak English, but it's our Consecration Week, and I only speak Finnish. My companion can translate for me, though!" game (all translated from Finnish, of course.) I had to change the "No English" tag on my name badge from pink to bright yellow, since for some reason, people kept mistaking it for the orange dots brand new missionaries get on their badges their first day, and we were welcomed to the MTC by people who got here as late as our 6th week. A lot of people thought that I couldn't actually speak English at all, and one cute sister spoke to me in Chinese since she thought it meant no English, either coming or going. It's been a wonderful week to shape my confidence and help me realize how prepared I actually am to go to Finland at long last. The Lord works miracles through me every single day, and reminds me over and over again how much He trusts me to do His work. I can only do so much, but He fills in the gaps so beautifully. This was supposed to be the most dreaded week of my MTC experience, and in many ways, it was the best yet!

Devotional on Tuesday was very special. First off, we all went to main campus early to participate in the choir, where we sang a Mack Wilburg arrangement of "Praise to the Man" that I know I've heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing before. Sisar Nyman and I seemed surrounded by sisters going to Japan- a couple of them going to Sendai! I told them how much my dad loved his mission there. Some other sisters behind us were still in their first week, and wondering if this was all really possible. The great thing about serving Finnish-speaking is that when we tell people that it's doable, they believe it! The legacy of the Finnish language is known far and wide around these parts, even to people learning tough Asian languages! I hope that they find the strength in themselves and in the Lord to know that they can do a great job. Anyway, we started to sing our prelude music as we always do, and suddenly the people in the front rows started to stand up. After a few moments, I saw a man walk through the door with a very distinctive bald head, and it became very apparent that our speaker was Dallin H. Oaks from the quorum of the 12 apostles! He spoke to us about why it's so important that this church is different from other churches. If it weren't, why should anyone join it? We have so much to offer the people of the world because of our view of who Heavenly Father is, and His relationship to us. Never forget this. I've felt for a long time that everything in our church goes back to God being our loving Heavenly Father, and his talk really confirmed that in me. I loved listening to him speak, because he is so unapologetic about his beliefs, and about his devotion to God and Jesus Christ. At the same time, there's so much love in what he says. I can learn a lot from that. Sometimes it's necessary to be bold, but not harsh, and it's a delicate balance that he has down.

After devotional as we were walking back, I was really sad to notice that there were some missionaries being really silly and irreverent, just moments after being in the presence of an apostle of the Lord. I don't say this to demean them, or to make myself seem so much more grown up and mature, but it's stuck with me every since. They of course, were asked to be more reverent, but it's so sad to me that some missionaries treat this time like EFY, and it's so much more than that. I thought about the people going to Finland, and they are all exceptional missionaries. The Lord knows us all so well, because He's sending people to Finland who are strong and serious about their work, which I think Finland really needs. It gives me strength to know that Heavenly Father has put me in this group of amazing young people, because He knows that I am capable of working alongside them. I'm so determined not to let anyone's opportunity to receive this message pass by because I'm not behaving like the adult that I am. I know I'm not perfect. My mom sent me the comment on my last blog about missionaries not always being perfect in things. It's true, we don't become that model servant of the Lord right away. But I need to work hard to make sure that from my first moments in Suomi, I am being the servant He needs me to be. Everything will come to me as I do my best to always improve.

Yesterday we hosted again, and we got to welcome the new Finnish missionaries! YAY!!! They were all the mature, wonderful, spiritual people I'd expect them to be. You could just tell that there was something special about them that just radiated "Finnish mission call". But I'm pretty biased. They're learning surprisingly fast already, and it was so great to speak Finnish around them to let them know that they can do hard things. I'm excited to see them later on in the field, and see how they've grown. I feel love for them already. That's one of the miracles of the MTC.

One minute left of email time! No time for any linguistic silliness, but I'll probably have quite a bit of that after my first few days overseas! I love all of you, and I hope you are able to feel my love for this work through my writings. This is the best decision I've ever made.

-Sisar Hansen