#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

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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??

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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