CHEESE???

Niin, minun rakaat perhe ja ystävät...

This week has been quite the week. 

Both good and bad.

Let's start off with last P-day. Everything was going well, we finished emailing on time and even had a little extra time to get something to eat before we caught a tram to head to our next destination. And that is when it happened. 

I lost my wallet. 

The only sad thing was that I didn't realize this until an hour later when I was trying to buy an antique metal goblet that was carved into the shape of an elephant doing a handstand from a Finnish thrift store. Sadly, I didn't get the goblet, and I wasn't able to find my wallet either when we went back to the restaurant to look for it. 

Let's hope I find it soon! 

BUT, there are always good things that happen! 

Things such as...

• We were able to meet with a referral from the Elders who is absolutely golden. Can't say much more than that, but it was awesome! 
• We were able to give out 10 Book of Mormons in ONE day, when we went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. 
• One of the investigators we've been working with for 3 months was finally able to come to church!! 

Also, these are more for fun:

• I sat next to a lady on the tram the other day and asked her how her day was going. She just looked at me with the most astonished expression, I wish I could've taken a picture of it. We held eye contact for a considerable amount of time, so I ended up saying, "Puhutko Suomea??" (do you speak Finnish?) and instantly she looks out and window and whispers, "I don't want to talk." Finns.

We decided to ask if the man selling burgers inside a street kioski would like to learn more about the Book of Mormon. He was asian and didn't speak a whole lot of English. It went like this.

"Hello! We are here from our church tell--"

"CHEESE!"

"No, no, from our CHURC--"

"You want cheeseburger?"

"No thank you. We are sharing a message about this book--"

"No, no,no, if you don't want cheese, I sell cheeseburger."

He then shut his little window on us and that was the end of our contact. 

Church. Not cheese. 

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Christmas season! I am grateful for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He truly is Wonderful, the Prince of Peace, Counselor, the Mighty God.

I know He lives and that He knows us. 

Merry Christmas,

SIsar Kwok 

 

Things Finns say...

Terveisiä Kaikkille!

I thought I'd put more thought into my weekly email this week, since I've been such a stinker from the past couple of emails. I sincerely apologize, if it wasn't for my daily planner, I probably wouldn't have even made it to the library today, so we'll see how this goes! 

Ensiksi:

Weather update: It's getting cold. WINDY. No snow yet, but it's been pouring rain now for a solid couple of days so I am starting to really wish for snow now. The sun sets around 4-5 now, which is a big change from just 3 months ago when we had to sleep with black out drapes over our windows but hey! no complaints, it helps us go to sleep faster haha! 

Other than that, Sister Hayter and I said our goodbyes last wednesday, we spent Tuesday with Sister Reynolds who had to stay with us because her companion was moving to Vaasa, so we basically were a tripanionshiop for a day! Woo hoo! It was such a strange thing, we felt like a mob when we tried to contact people on the streets, I'm so glad I haven't had to serve in a tripe yet. 

We picked up Sister Carter right after and we've been going nonstop! Sister Carter is from Nephi, Utah, 23 yrs old and is studying graphic design at UVU, or in other words, she is very artistic! I love it because we get to talk about sketching and color matching, I really missed that haha. 

Anyway more about the subject line in this email, we met a lady on the tram the other day who taught us a Finnish tongue twister. 

Try saying this baby 10 times:

Kokoo kokko. Koko Kokkoko? Koko Kokko. 

Translation:

Gather a bonfire. An entire bonfire? An entire bonfire. 

Doesn't really make sense, but it's fun to say. 

There's also the word: Jättelötötterön which sounds like: yeah-te-lur-tur-te-rurn 

It means ice cream cone. 

Anyway, I love you all! I know the church is true! I know that God loves us! 

Have a good week! 

Sisar Kwok

Pictures: 

1. Our shower drain, don't look at it if you can't take it!  

2. Sister Carter and I 

​

ummm...?

Who loves busy p-days??? I DO!!!!!

Not really. 

Well, I do, because it means work is being done...

Anyway! 

Here are some highlights! 

We got transfer calls this week, I will be staying in Neitsytpolku for Christmas 😁 and my new companion is sister carter!!!! Sister Hayter is movjng to Espoo 2, which makes me so sad because I love sister Hayter!!! 

Besides that..ahhhhggghhh. 

We have a cool Vietnamese investigator, who brought ANOTHER cool Vietnamese friend to a lesson this week #referralsrock. 

This email really stinks, but it's OK, there is always next week!!!

Love you all,

Sister kwok

Hyvää Pyhäin Päivä!

Hey fwends!

I'm going to the temple this p-day, hence the short email, but this week I thought I would like to share a few quotes from our awesome investigator S 

who is from Cameroon. 

When making a joke about him running to church:

"WHAT??!! WHO DO YA THINK I AM?? I'M NOT JAMAICAN... I'M NOT KENYAN EITHER!"

When committing him to read the Book of Mormon:

"I know, I know, but y'all can't force me to do anything... But I'll do it."

He also speaks French fluently, so half the time he'll speak in English and the other half he will speak in French. He's funny.

For Halloween, we just did missionary work like normal, instead of Halloween they celebrate "Pyhäin Päivä" which is sort of like memorial day. They set up candles in the graveyards for the dead and spend time with family. 😍

I love you all! I hope you have a good week!

Sisar Kwok 

Here are some pictures!

Our unsuccessful Halloween jello

​Elder Broadhead with a knife. Happy Halloween.

 

Let's go to Espoo! (pronounced Espo)

So a lot of good news this week!

Our investigator S is getting baptized this Saturday!! He'll be getting baptized in the Espoo chapel, since Nietsytpolku doesn't have a baptismal font. We are way excited for him! I can't believe how the gospel can change people, four weeks ago he had an entirely different religion and didn't even believe in Christ! I think that has been the most rewarding part of being a missionary, not necessarily the baptism part, but seeing the Spirit of the Lord soften the hearts of others. 

My favorite part is asking our investigator to give the closing prayer after our first lesson with them. Usually they'll shy away from it or even say they are too scared. But in the end, when we kneel together and they offer their first prayer out loud, I feel the Spirit so strongly testify to me that this is what my mission is about. It's not about numbers or about being "successful" it's about bringing the Spirit into the lives of others. 

I've had a lot of doors slammed in my face this week, and I've had a lot of people say no before I can even open my mouth to say hello.

But I've also felt Heavenly Father's love for me and it's carried me through all of those moments! 

Funny story: 

So we're teaching S the lesson on temple marriages and ordinances, anyway, the lesson is going pretty slowly, we can tell that we've been doing way too much talking because his eyes start getting droopy. And so Sister Kwok decides to throw in a commitment to keep him involved with the conversation. It goes like this:

Me: So S_____ after what we've talked about temples and the ordinances that are performed in them, will you commit to being married in the temple? 

*the whole room goes silent* 

S: I'm sorry...what did you say? 

Me (realizing now that I probably could've stated it in a better way): Yeah... will you be married in the temple? 

S: Like...soon? Or what, right now? 

Me: Well no! Like-- well-- Of cour-- Yeah, just whene-- Whenever you meet that special someone!

S: I'm sorry, I'm still confused.

Sister Hayter: I think what we mean is will you prepare yourself to one day be married in the temple? 

By this point in the lesson the poor guy looks so confused, he just slowly nods and turns to look at his member friend and they start speaking in rapid Turkish. 

This is just proof that the Lord chooses small and simple things to get things done. 

I hope you've all had a good week! Embrace the fall...winter is coming!!! 

Siunauksia teille! 

Sisar Kwok 

We fail at selfies.

​Good ol' Dennis! 

 

the library....

The worst things in life are when you get an email from the missionary department requesting you to take a 15 minute survey when you only  have 45 minutes to email. 

Sorry this email is so short, but we watched conference at the haaga chapel with a bunch of other missionaries. It was super fun and so spiritually uplifting. I have never focused so much on conference before!! After that sister hayter and I spent the whole day yesterday running from 1 side of Helsinki to the next to comfort the sick and pick up lone missionaries from the train station. It was an adventure....I super tiring one. I really am so tired. 

But I love being a missionary, I guess that's the most important part right???

Love you all! Sister kwok 

Fear NOT little flock!

So...this week 

There was good and bad... of course. 

Our amazing investigator S.M. agreed to the baptismal date of Oct 10. This guy is such trooper, even though he had a fever and his face was bright red, he STILL came to the YSA fireside with Elder Kelbengat from the Seventy. Half of the things that were mentioned were way over his head, things like, the second coming, deep spiritual gifts and learning Russian. But it didn't even faze him, if only all of our investigators would be like S.M. the whole city of Helsinki would pretty much turn into the city of Enoch.

 

Speaking of Russian though, man I have never used so many random phrases in different languages to preach the gospel in my whole life. Just this past week I've had to use all the Russian, Italian, Swedish, Cantonese and Mandarin that I know (which really isn't all that much) to make contact with these people. I wasn't super good at learning Russian, but I really hope that I'll catch on to Swedish while I'm here. The vocabulary seems pretty similar to English, so there's a good chance i'l catch on to some by the time I leave the mission field. 

Bläbår=Blueberry 

Tåg=train 

Jordgubb=Strawberry 

I'll get there someday!!!!

This week during personal study, I've been focusing on how I can fully fulfill my purpose here in the field, I came across this scripture in D&C 6:34-37 it reminds me of the care that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for us and for the sacrifices that have been made for us to be on this earth today. 

34 Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock,they cannot prevail.

 35 Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you.

 36 Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

 37 Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful,keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen.

Doubt not. Fear not. Do good. Be faithful. Keep my commandments. 

That's all He asks of us. I know that it's by doing the simple things that great testimonies and great acts come to pass before us. I hope you all have a good week! 

Sisar Kwok

 

Sister Hayter and I in the Metro

Lutheran church. again. 

​

his name is SKY MAN

Hello all! 

This first week in the Helsinki has been CRAZY. So many more things happen in the city, its fabulous. Things I have witnessed this week: a man with dreadlocks dressed as superman walking on a tightrope in the city center. He even has a picture of himself on the tightrope printed onto his shirt, shirt-ception. 

a gypsy fighting with another gypsy, all in sign language. So intense. 

And of course, the classic man that flips us off every time he sees us. I love it here. 

I would go into a lot more detail but we rented tablets from the library and it is being very glitchy. So far there are only two other companionships in our district, the elders in pasila and the other neitsytpolku elders, its kind of a shock, I haven't seen so many missionaries in such a close range for half a year. 

So a highlight from this week, 

The elders in marjaniemi gave us a referral last week and we started meeting with him three days ago. His friend was baptized in may and he wanted to know why he was so happy. So of course we were excited to meet him, except, no one knew how to say his name. He is from T____ and his name is very hard to pronounce. After a little bit, they just asked us to call him Sky man, which is his nickname. So now, I am officially teaching a man named Sky Man. 

Aside from the intensity of his name though, he is such a solid investigator. We have had some really incredible lessons with him and he is progressing like crazy, we hope he can be baptized by the end of the month before general conference. When we tried to set the date with him, he wasn't so sure, but at the rate he is accepting the gospel it is very possible! Pray for us! 

My tablet only has about 20℅ battery left, so I'll have to leave it that, I hope to send you all some pictures next week! This city is BEAUTIFUL!!! 

Terveisia suomesta! 

Sisar kwok

Away we go....

Hey Everyone!

The reason I'm writing early this week is because of transfers, we got our calls this past Friday and guess where I'm heading now...

drumroll...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

....

....

...

...

...

HELSINKI! 

That's right! Not only Helsinki, but the Neitsytpolku ward, which is in the very heart of the capital! I'll be finishing the training of another sister who just came into the country last transfer named Sister Hayter! 

I am so excited to be serving in the city, most of the time if people ever mentioned Helsinki, I would think in my head, "Oh, you mean that one really noisy, crowded place that we have go through in order to get to President's house, that place?" But now I actually get to SEE it!!

That being said, it's strange packing up my stuff and trying to fit my life into two suitcases again. Right after we got the call, I remember looking around the apartment, trying to mentally figure out which things I needed to pack first and I realized that I LIVED here. Our tiny little apartment that had recently become infested with fruit flies (I don't know what happened) had become my real home. 

I have gotten so used to the farm fields and forests that surround this place (yesterday we saw a couple driving on the road with a tractor that was bigger than a house) I have loved being able to ride our bikes down by the lake Saimaa and to smell the freshness of the pine trees and open air.

Also, I had to say goodbye to my recent convert family, man! Goodbyes are SO HARD! I am so thankful for modern day technology and for the ability to skype and email them when I come home! This little town has changed me for the better, I remember coming into the area, we only had a handful of investigators and I didn't speak the language as well as I needed to. It took a lot of faith and humbling, a lot of patience and perseverance but slowly the Lord was able to change me into the missionary that I needed to be, I've witnessed the miracles that He brings to pass and I hope that He never stops trying to help me become a better person.

It's going to be hard to say goodbye, but...onward and upward! 

Like the words of my favorite song say:

"Eespäin, aina eespäin näin me käymme nimesään, käykää, eespäin käykää, voitto laulu kajahtaa. Tahdomme näin Herraa, Kuningasta palvela!" 

(Herrasta ja Kuninkaasta, Called to Serve.)

Kunnes me kuuntellimme toinen toiseltä taas, nähdään! 

Sisar Kwok 

The District :)

So a funny thing about being in the same area for half a year is that you get to see it in every single season, I remember arriving into Lappeenranta at the tail end of winter, when everything was just slush and misery, saw it transform as flowers started to bloom and the weather started to warm up, I've experienced the summer humidity and blinding rays of the midnight sun and now, the leaves are starting to fall and the clouds are gathering back up. 

Being able to see these things and to watch change happen is a testimony that this world was created by a loving Heavenly Father, and that his perfect plan requires the agency of man. 

This past week was good and hard, for several different reasons. it was hard in the fact that so many of our plans fell through but it was good in the way that I have truly seen the love of God in my life. Every single week is different, some are disappointing while others are exciting, but the constant presence of the Holy Ghost reminds me that no matter what happens, as long as I am I working my hardest, the work will be done and that I am fulfilling my missionary purpose. 

Anyway, with that being said, Sister Kwok got to give a talk in sacrament meeting this week! WOOHOOO!!!!!!!!!! It actually went pretty smoothly, I cried, but that's nothing new. After the meeting was over, our recent convert came up to me to tell me how much I had progressed in the language from 2 months ago. My mind was blown! 

After that, our district meeting got switched around again and we ended up meeting yesterday. I love our district, they are the greatest bunch of missionaries I know, we have so much fun be we also get so much work done, they are all amazing. We made jokes about who was going to be taken out and who was staying, Elder Hatch and I have both been in the same area for the longest, so we assumed that we are going to be transferred, but you never know! 

​Lappeenranta-Mikkeli-Savonlinna District 

We get our transfer calls this week, and we shall see what the Lord has in store for me! 

Until next week,

Sisar Kwok 

Fwd: Mennemmekö naimisiin?? in other words, "Are we getting married??"

Love hearing from you Emily with your sense of humor! We love you and will continue to pray for your success and safety! Love you, Kathy Winn

Sent from Outlook

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Emily Kwok" <emily.kwok@myldsmail.net>
Date: Tue, Aug 18, 2015 at 2:59 AM -0700
Subject: Mennemmekö naimisiin?? in other words, "Are we getting married??"
To: <breonnaeyler8@ygmail.com>, <emilykwok16.finland@blogger.com>, <tesschiuleung@gmail.com>, <yoyoaah@hotmail.com>, "Ashley HIckman" <ashwills3@gmail.com>, "Carol Ng" <laiecarol@gmail.com>, "Eugenia Xie" <eugeniaxie@gmail.com>, "Hailey Hadley" <hailey@thehadleys.net>, "Helen Kwok" <hkwok27@gmail.com>, "Jacob Baird" <jacob.baird@myldsmail.net>, "Kam Wing Kwok" <kamwingkwok@msn.com>, "Kathy Winn" <winn_kathy@hotmail.com>, "Kayla Cartwright" <klcart510@gmail.com>, "Kaylee Whiteley" <kaylee.whiteley@hotmail.com>, "Kelsie Gajewsky" <kelsie.gajewsky@gmail.com>, "Macy Chilton" <mayz33@msn.com>, "Natalie Wong" <nh.wong@live.com>, "Nicole Tucker" <nicole.tucker@myldsmail.net>, "Randa Mortensen" <rander_22@hotmail.com>, "Samantha Morgan" <sammorgan1206@gmail.com>, "sarah kwok" <sarahkwok888@gmail.com>, "Sarah Warr" <warrsarah@yahoo.com>, "Sarah Whitworth" <whitworths.Sarah@gmail.com>, "Sierra Wise" <sierra.wise@myldsmail.net>, "siu lok" <siulok@msn.com>, "tanya wilkinson" <twilky5@yahoo.com>, "Winnie Kwok" <wykwok106@gmail.com>, "Zoe Woolf" <zoe.woolf@hotmail.com>

Rakat Velijet ja Sisaret,

Mitä kuulu?

This past week has felt like the longest and bestest week of MAH LIFE!!!!!!!!!!

First off, we were at the mission home. Man, food at the mission home is so good, I miss real food that doesn't consist of a bunch of salads and bread all the time. Not that I don't appreciate a good salad and bread...but, yeah.

Anyway.

The Watson's are such an amazing couple, the peace that they have in their home is almost unreal, We were able to learn amazing things such as:

1. How the Sepsis death rate in Utah got lowered from 26% to 6% (the whole time President was telling us this story all I could think was, "that's MY mission president, he's saved so many lives!!!")

2. How the human heart relates to all things spiritual.

3. Tracting is a lost art.

and how basically everything that we do is emphasized by the Spirit 100%

I wish I could write down in words all the things that I learned from those 3 days, but alas, I am but a woman who can't even keep track her daily planner.

After we got back from interim, we were able to have a lesson with a man named M, who sort of dropped off our radar for several weeks but has come back strong, We called him Sunday morning as a last minute prompting, and he ended up coming! SUCH MIRACLES!!!!!!!!!

We walked with him from the city center to our church and every single time we turned a corner he would ask us if we were there yet. Finally, as we got closer I pointed toward the church's general direction and said, " It's just over there." which sadly was in the same direction as the state office building.

M just stares blankly at the building, slowly says, "Wait, you didn't tell me we were getting married." and just busts out laughing, for a good 5 minutes. By himself.

People. You just have to love them.

Other highlights from this week:

1. Picked up a rug for a sick investigator. We totally didn't even think about how big it was going to be, but good thing Sister Hyde is a beast.

​

2.There was a market going on in Mikkeli, so I ended up buying a whole serving of Muikku, which is basically small fishes which are fried whole in butter. Head and tail included. Best day ever! (See the attached photo)

​

3. Said goodbye to our district leader who is leaving to the States to start school, RIP Elder McMaster!

​All in all it's been a good week! I hope to hear from you all soon!

Thanks for sticking with me for so long!

Sisar Kwok

 

 

enjoy

​

Muikku!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mennemmekö naimisiin?? in other words, "Are we getting married??"

Rakat Velijet ja Sisaret,

Mitä kuulu?

This past week has felt like the longest and bestest week of MAH LIFE!!!!!!!!!!

First off, we were at the mission home. Man, food at the mission home is so good, I miss real food that doesn't consist of a bunch of salads and bread all the time. Not that I don't appreciate a good salad and bread...but, yeah.

Anyway.

The Watson's are such an amazing couple, the peace that they have in their home is almost unreal, We were able to learn amazing things such as:

1. How the Sepsis death rate in Utah got lowered from 26% to 6% (the whole time President was telling us this story all I could think was, "that's MY mission president, he's saved so many lives!!!")

2. How the human heart relates to all things spiritual.

3. Tracting is a lost art.

and how basically everything that we do is emphasized by the Spirit 100%

I wish I could write down in words all the things that I learned from those 3 days, but alas, I am but a woman who can't even keep track her daily planner.

After we got back from interim, we were able to have a lesson with a man named M, who sort of dropped off our radar for several weeks but has come back strong, We called him Sunday morning as a last minute prompting, and he ended up coming! SUCH MIRACLES!!!!!!!!!

We walked with him from the city center to our church and every single time we turned a corner he would ask us if we were there yet. Finally, as we got closer I pointed toward the church's general direction and said, " It's just over there." which sadly was in the same direction as the state office building.

M just stares blankly at the building, slowly says, "Wait, you didn't tell me we were getting married." and just busts out laughing, for a good 5 minutes. By himself.

People. You just have to love them.

Other highlights from this week:

1. Picked up a rug for a sick investigator. We totally didn't even think about how big it was going to be, but good thing Sister Hyde is a beast.

​

2.There was a market going on in Mikkeli, so I ended up buying a whole serving of Muikku, which is basically small fishes which are fried whole in butter. Head and tail included. Best day ever! (See the attached photo)

​

3. Said goodbye to our district leader who is leaving to the States to start school, RIP Elder McMaster!

​All in all it's been a good week! I hope to hear from you all soon!

Thanks for sticking with me for so long!

Sisar Kwok

 

 

Hmmm..this week....

Like the subject line of this email states, I have no idea what to say about this week...

The only think I can liken my area to is like the "Feast and Famine" parts of the Bible. You know, when the people receive like tons of food and spiritual awesome nourishment all at the same time, so fast that they can't even comprehend how awesome everything is and then BAM, ALL OF A SUDDEN things just stop and the have to start from ground zero again and work up to the feast? 

Yeah, pretty much sums up this past week. Most of the investigators we've been working with were either out of town or decided to take out the batteries from their cellphones...all at the same time. 

But work is work, we've still been coming home dead tired and I guess that is the most important part! 

Other than that hmm..hmmm...hmm...think Sister Kwok think!

Our energy breaker blew it's circuit today, that was exciting! It wasn't until after we called our Talo Mies and the Sahkö mies and they both came to the apartment that we realized that we just had to flip a tiny little switch on our ceiling to get everything back and running. But it's ok, our poor Talo Mies has come to know by now that I don't really know what to do when it comes to fixing appliances, we're good friends! 

On that note, here is a lovely picture of place that looks like the sacred grove. 

​

I hope you all have a great week, sorry this email wasn't super uplifting or miraculous in anyway but I hope that miracles are happening in your lives! One of the most important things I've learned this week is that when we focus on the Lord, and on our missionary purpose, trials become easier to overcome relationships are mended. I have a testimony of loving companions and loving the work!

Haluan kertoa teille että Vapahtajamme elää. Hän on meidän vieressa ja meidän edessä. Hänen ansiostaan me emme tarvitse olla pelkää. Olen nahnut monia ihmeita elämässäni ja kaikki on koska hän rakasta meita. 

Olkaa kuuliaisuus! haha 

Rakkaudellani, 

Sisar Kwok 

#DOWORK

Oh my gosh, this week was probably one of the most mentally stressful weeks I've ever experienced but also one of the most rewarding.

I won't go through all of the hardships but let's just say that training is not easy! I've never had to pray as much as I have over things and really ponder on what it means to be charitable.

Anyway...aside from that...

It all started out when we were trying to plan for the upcoming baptismal date of S, when the high priest tells us he had overheard a conversation where S is actually not his own legal guardian. At first this meant absolutely nothing to me, but after calling President we realized that we would have to contact his legal caretaker and discuss with her the legal complications regarding his baptism. So we did it! I've never had to deal with legal matters that require court papers before so while the phone was ringing I was just praying that the lady spoke English. But alas, out of a country where English is taught as a standard to all children, the lady who organizes S's affairs did not speak English.

 At all.

Anyway, after a long time of asking her to pause so that I could look up laywer jargon words in the dictionary we were finally able to get the green light for S to be baptized!

Not only that but N&K's son, who we've been working with for a while now also was interviewed by Elder McMaster...and he was ready to get baptized too!!!!!!

2 BAPTISMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND IT WAS ALL ON MY BIRTHDAY!

 BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER!

I am now 20 years old! Isn't that gross? ewh. I don't like it.

Looking back on this week now, I've realized that I've hit a lot of milestones, I've turned twenty and tomorrow I will be halfway through my mission, time goes by so soon! It's hard to imagine that I received my call letter 1 year and two weeks ago!

If anything I've learned that the Lord is with us in all things and that despite our doubts and fears, he will lift our burdens and straighten our path.

I turned twenty, but I know that the knowledge that I've learned within these last 9 months will carry me for the rest of my life!

​We went to the Russian border again, but this time we got even closer!  Haha it was pretty peaceful though, the only thing to keep us from going into the country was a tiny little watch camera on the side of the fence.

​Lunch after district meeting with the Melby's!

Thanks for all of the Happy Birthday wishes, I hope you know that I care about every single one of you and treasure your emails!

Sisar Kwok

 

 

The gift of tongues (this time, it's the real one!)

Hyvä Päivä kaikille!

It's crazy the amount of things that can happen within a week, a month, or half a year. Half the time, I forget that what I do everyday is not "normal", it's amazing to see that missionary life is my life now. I go to bed at 10:30 and then wake up at 6:30 and then the rest of the time is the Lord's time. People can find that very difficult, I found it to be difficult for a while but I testify that there is a peace that comes into our lives when we realize that all we do is for a greater purpose.

But....I GOT MY TRAINEE!!!!

Her name is Sister Hyde and she is from

...

.....

......(Drum roll)...

PROVO, UTAH!

That's right everybody, the big leagues!

It's super funny that everything turned out the way it did, because the night before transfers I was freaking out about what language she would speak or where she would come from.  Poor Sister Powell had to console me for like half an hour telling me that my trainee was probably going to be from Utah. Haha, no surprise there.

I am super excited to be working with her, it was funny because we knew each other even before she came into the country. She had found my blog online and emailed me about some questions she had about clothes and culture. I had only been in the country for 3 weeks at the time, so I couldn't answer very well but I remember reading from her email how funny it would be if I ended up training her.

And I am!

SPIRIT OF PROPHECY!!!!!

Life is crazy people.

The work is going along, but pretty slowly, we haven't been able to find too many new investigators, so hopefully we will be able to pick that up and build up our teaching pool again.

We're trying to come up with some new contact approaches, sometimes saying the exact same phrases over and over again just doesn't cut it.

Nevertheless, It's been very humbling to see how far I've come in this language, especially in situations where I know that I wouldn't have been able to understand anything without the influence of the Holy Ghost.

esimerkiksi: 

Yesterday we had a lesson with an investigator who has a slight lisp. He talks very low and fast and most of the time our member can't even tell what he is saying. I was sort of anxious about the lesson because I knew that Sisar Hyde probably wouldn't be able to really follow anything and that I would have to most of the teaching. But right when we entered the lesson I felt peace, and I was actually able to understand so much more than I had ever before!

Granted...most of the stuff I understand was from when he was talking about his out of body experience with demonic angels while he was on hardcore drugs, but still!

I am so grateful for the blessing of the gift of tongues and for the opportunity to spread the gospel in the Finnish language!

Picture (Sisar Hyde (the older one, not my trainee) and sisar Herrmann) (we all finished training with Sisar Dowd, that's why we decided to take this "family picture")

 

Love you all,

Sisar Kwok ​

SURPRISE!!!

Hey everyone! 

Transfer calls came this week, and because the Lord always strives to keep us on our toes, we had a couple surprises! 

are you all ready??

...

.....

.......

...........

I'M TRAINING!!!!!!! WOOHOOOO!!!

I'll be staying in Lappeenranta for another two months with my new trainee! She gets off the plane tonight and I'll be heading to Helsinki to pick her up tomorrow, it's super surreal. I honestly feel like I JUST got here, that I JUST passed training and that I JUST BARELY know enough to keep the work moving along. Please pray for me! 

With that being said, Sisar Powell is heading out to Kuopio (the "bellybutton" of Finland) ( Don't ask. I don't know who comes up with these sayings) We shed a couple tears together when we got the call, I knew we wouldn't be staying together, but it was a huge shock that I was going to be staying in LPR for another change and that she was going.

We've had a lot of good moments together, I've never met anyone so willing to be obedient and to endure to the end. I'm going to miss her a lot...

But, kuitenkin, she is going to rock Kuopio! 

Other than that...I have no idea what happened this week, it really was just a blur. 

It's hard to imagine that within this next month I'll be turning 20 and be hitting my halfway mark. It's been almost a year to the day when I got my call letter stating that I would be serving this mission. 

Looking back on it now, I had no idea what serving a mission meant or what it would entail, I had no idea about the blessings that would come from it or about the trials I would have to overcome. There are still so many things that I have yet to learn, it's a scary thought, but it's also a comforting one. I know that whoever I will be in the end will be someone that the Lord would want me to be.   

Sisar Watson, minä, ja Sisar Powell. We were all matching! 

I was super sad to hear the passing of Elder Packer, I have always looked up to him as an apostle of the Lord. Here is a quote from him:

"There is no end to His power to bless and direct the lives of those who seek truth and righteousness."

-The Reason for Our Hope

I know that it is true, we never need to feel alone or abandoned when the Lord is on our side. The Spirit of the Lord can overcome all things, and can heal all wounds as long as we strive to obey his commandments and live worthily of his blessings. 

I know that all the hardships we face are for our benefit and for our growth.

Rakkaudellani,

Sisar Kwok 

"DON'T WORRY, the Zone Leaders are actually really excited about it."

Terve Kaikille!

It's been a good week! 

Highlights from district meeting:

• Played modal verb Jeopardy. Elder McMaster and Hastings won, Mikkeli Elders got close second. Good game Elders, good game. 
• Learned that Elder Hastings can actually play piano, sly dog has been holding out on us for 5 months.

Quotes from Sister Powell

"We are NOT talking about this right now!.."

"DARN DARN DARN DARNEDY DARN!!!"

"You know that lactose intolerant heavy whipping cream I bought last week? Yeah, it's not cutting it."

Also...

This week... WE HAD A BAPTISM!!!! That's right! N&K got baptized this past weekend! Everything went pretty smoothly until...we got a call from our Elder McMaster asking about how many Baptismal Records we had. Turns out that we had totally forgot to order any from the office. I've made mistakes before, but I really did feel bad about this one.

Usually in a regular missionary scenario, the district leader would be like, "Oh, that's ok sisters, we'll just bring some to you when we we roll into LPR tomorrow." 

But of course there is no such thing, and because we are so spread out in this area of the country it actually ended up being a lot worse.

This is how it went:

DL: "Oh, wait, you don't have any baptismal records?? Huh...that's not too good. Because we don't either..."

Us:"WHAT??? Wait, but what are we going to do then?" 

DL: "Well...hmmm...I don't know I've never been in this situation before...you know what, just hold on, let me call President"

....

DL:"Oh-kay, here's whats going to happen! The zone leaders are going to catch a 1 am bus to give US the baptismal records, and THEN we are going to catch a train to get to you sisters, but don't worry because they're actually super excited to do it!"

So we ended up being saved by our poor Zone Leaders, we owe them big time, they pulled an all nighter for us right before a baptism of their own. I felt so bad about that.

But all in all, things went really well!  

 

our favorite job!

You guys, I am so happy for this family, I am just so happy for all of the amazing things that will happen in their lives after they enter the temple. Already, they are such perfect examples of faith and dedication to me.

And guess what, I will be released by the time they can go into the temple, that means I GET TO COME BACK AND GO WITH THEM!!!! Families really can be together forever! 

this is a picture of a member's cat. The thing had death eyes, I had to take a picture of it.

​

All in all it was a really good week! 

I hope you are all having a fantastic summer and 4th of July! Eat lots of s'mores for me!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Kwok 

new mission office address!!!

After 50 years of being at the Neitsytpolku address, our mission office is moving! 

So if any of you want to send me letters, essays, comments, or concerns please send them to this address starting June 22!

Sisar Emily Kwok 

Finland Helsinki Mission

Upseerinkatu 3 C, 02600 Espoo, Finland

"I knew it from a dream..."

First of all, congrats to the best beef Kaylee for GETTING MARRIED!!! That is absolutely insane, I am so happy for you, you look gorgeous!

Also, WOW. PEOPLE.

This week has been a week of complete and utter miracles!

Do you remember that family that we were teaching last week? Well...we got to meet her husband this past Sunday and they BOTH HAVE BAPTISMAL DATES!!!!!!!!! There are no words to express my joy that I felt at that moment when we asked him if he would prepare himself for baptism. Usually people are very "Maybe..." "I think so..." "I don't know, if it feels right..."

BUT NO.

THIS BELOVED MAN SAID "KYLLÄ."  

HE SAID YES.

Another cool experience with this family was when we met with the mother yesterday. We were talking about how God has a hand in our lives and that our purpose on this earth was to progress. By the end of the lesson she is telling us about when she was young, the missionaries had tracted her neighborhood. She had sent them away convinced that she would never listen to their message. But she then tells us that the morning of the day we met her she had woken up with a distinct impression that she needed to listen to the missionaries. MIRACLES!!!!

This is such a relief for this area, for the longest time the adversary has just been pounding our investigators to pieces. And they weren't just getting hit with tomatoes people, there have been some pretty serious rocks that have hit our members and our investigators.

There were days when I felt like every single time something good happened, I would have to brace myself for bad news about a members' family, another dropped investigator or another anti-Mormon relative.

This area is hard. Very, very hard. I would never have admitted that to myself, but throughout these past couple of weeks I've had to come to grips that the work that we've been doing isn't bad work. We just need to endure it the best we can and work against all that we've been facing.

Please pray for this family everyone, please pray that this area will be able to progress and that our members will receive the help that they deserve.

I love you all! I hope you are finding the Lord's hand in all that you do! He loves us, He loves to see our growth.

Have a great week!

Sisar Kwok

Lost bikes.

Hello everyone!

First off, Happy Mother's Day! It was so cool to see everyone again and to hear their voices. For some reason, I always thought skyping home from a mission would be a traumatic thing but it turns out that it was just the opposite! I love you all and thanks for the kind words and support!

Second off, it's been a good, good week. Hard, but good. You know you're killing it as a senior companion when your junior companion's bike gets stolen on their first day. It wasn't our proudest moment but HEY, we ended up getting in contact with this investigator that hadn't been meeting with us for a while because she was selling a bike, and guess what! She's investigating again!

MIRACLES PEOPLE!!!!

On Thursday we met a cool Russian guy named I. Pretty neat. 

It's also been a good week because we are teaching FAMILIES. If you told me two weeks ago that we would have appointments with families I would have laughed so hard. But guess what people... it's true! We have found two amazing families to teach that are so prepared for this message! It's incredible to see the hand of the Lord in the lives of these people! 

Kuitenkin...the computers at the church are kind of broken so this is just going to be a short update 

But here are some pictures for your visual enjoyment!!

Ice cream made out of oatmeal...in Swedish 

#classy

​This truck was just parked in the middle of nowhere, of course we had to take a picture with it! 

'MERICA!

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Change calls! What a treat!

Hyvää päivä kaikille! 

This week was another beautiful week in Lappeenranta, and guess what?? Change calls came... and I'll be staying in LPR peeps!! With...(drum roll)....SISAR POWELL! 

That's right everyone, the best buds from the MTC are going to be companions now! It's super exciting but also a little bit nerve wracking. Being in the same MTC group also means that we've been out the same time, or in other words, both of us probably still don't know what people are saying 95% of the time. But we'll power through, what else can we do right? (just keep praying for us) 

Other than change calls, this week has been pretty ordinary. We've been meeting this investigator named J, who is...still interesting. Most of our lessons just end up with Sister Kwok crying in the bathroom because he'll dodge every single question we ask with answers about physics and relativity. And then he gets super frustrated when he sees that we don't understand him. But hey, he wants to get baptized and he comes to church so that's that.

I'm going to miss Sisar Dowd, not only because she quotes Disney movies like a boss and she's always smiling. But I'm going to miss her because she's taught me a lot about learning to love the work despite the highs and lows. 

I've only been a missionary for six months, and I have so much more to learn but I sincerely love it here. Sometimes it's difficult to keep my head up, most of the time I just feel like I'm that one sower who is casting all of the seeds onto the stony and barren ground. But I know that success isn't defined by numbers. 

As Ammon said in Alma 26:

  27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.

 28 And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings,and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God.

...

 30 And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some.

 31 Now behold, we can look forth and see the fruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are many; yea, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us.

 

Many times, we will not see the fruits of our labors, but I bear my testimony that they will come. We may not see them now, nor later in life. We may not even see them until we are brought to the judgement bar, but eventually we will look back on our lives and recognize that as long as we served the Lord with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength, good fruits will come forth. 

I know that God lives, that He loves us. I know that His only begotten Son came to earth to atone for our sins, and that because of Him we all have the chance to inherit eternal happiness. I sincerely know that the Book of Mormon is true, I have read it, I have studied it, and I have received that answer for myself.

 I love you all! Have a great week!

Nepalese food with the Zone Leaders, so good! 

​Jäätelötötterö!!! (that word is for you dad!) 

Rakkaudella! 

Sisar Kwok 

 

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