"elder, that is NOT the language they taught me in the mtc"

HALLELUJAH I finally made it to the land of the midnight sun!! 

Holy cow has this week been crazy, first off i want to apologize for the lack of capitilization in this email, the shift button is really tiny on this keyboard and i figured it would be easier if i stopped trying to correct every other word. 

my new companion is sisar owens! she is great and so enthusiastic about getting to work, the area i am in is called lahti. it's pretty big area and there are only two companionships covering it, us and the elders. the funny thing is that out of the four missionaries in the area, two are being trained, sometimes it's a struggle! 

The language is crazy, you know that one scene of "the best two years" when elder calhoun goes to buy bread and when he realizes that he doesn't understand the cashier his face just drops? That was my face. For the whole week. I don't understand a single word that people are saying. It's really humbling! 

I got to bear my testimony on sunday at the lahti ward, they are amazing people with great faith. there's only about a hundred or so members and it's awesome! 

the rumors about it being really cold here are true, we were finding a contact last night and my eyelashes froze over. I could see the ice crystals and they kept sticking to my face whenever i blinked. last night it was probably around -15 degrees celsius. YAY missionary work! 

the sun also sets really fast! probably around 3:30ish to 4 and it doesn't come back up until 9 in the morning, it definitely has made me more grateful for the sun back at home! 

Anyways, i have lots to say but not a lot of time so I'll just share a really funny story, one night when were knocking on  a couple of doors, this old man opens up and gives us the weirdest look, so Sisar Owens explains that because it's Sunday, we were hoping to sing him a church hymn. He answers by saying,

"I'm on a lot of drugs right now and I have a really weird "olo"(sensation or feeling?) i'm just going to go to bed now"  

And then he just closes the door on us, it was so funny, we were laughing so hard haha. 

This week was new and wonderful but also pretty hard, every single appointment that we had planned fell through, either by us getting dropped or people not answering the door. It was easy to get a little discouraged, but I am excited to get to know the people of lahti better.

I'll send some pictures soon! 

Rakkaduella 

SIsar Kwok 

Laxatives... 'nuff said.

Terve kaikki ihmiset,

Wow this week was eventful, but also not eventful. If that makes sense.

They say time doesn't travel the same way in the MTC and whoever "they" is, is absolutely correct! 

But anyway, I bet you are all wondering what that amazing subject line is talking about...\

After a long day of classes my district ends up walking back to our dorms together, while I am walking I overhear this conversation happening between two of the elders behind me. 

"Elder, it doesn't matter how many laxatives you take, the result is going to be the same..." 

So of course, I turn around and say, "what?" 

And then one of the elders just looks at me sheepishly and says, "The food here is difficult, ok!" 

Haha, I was laughing so hard! 

Anyway...on a more uplifting note, my companion and I were able to teach several lessons this week without any vocab or notes! WOOHOO, that is a huge step for us, and definitely a big confidence booster for me! I know that I'm not fluent, but at least I won't starve in the streets of freezing Helsinki! Speaking of freezing, our teacher showed us pictures of her mission, and I was so excited to see all the snow! What is up with this weather? Hopefully we get snow on Christmas day! 

Anyway, that is about it. Oh, if any of you get the chance you should look up the Christmas song "While Shepherds Lately Knelt." I don't know if it will be on Youtube or anything since it is a choir song, but I hope it is because it is BEAUTIFUL. 

Take care of yourselves! I love you! This week the post offices will be closed, so if you were thinking of sending me mail, I might not be able to get it until Saturday! 

Also, this is my last p-day at the MTC! So if you were thinking of sending me packages, it'd probably be best to send it to the mission home in Finland, the address is on my facebook! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Sisar Kwok 

"I think I would die without food."

Terve perhe ja ystävä 

Happy Valummistaustumispäivää!!!

That is how you say Preparation day in Finnish!

So this week has been fun!

We did our first skype call, we got to teach a lesson with an actual Finnish person in Finland. Hahaha, just imagine us staring blankly at a computer screen while our investigator, Jennu, is spouting out rapid fire Finnish. It was definitely interesting! You could tell she was trying so hard not to laugh as we did our best to speak. Teaching is awesome haha.

Anyway, with that being said, I think my poor district is suffering from missionary-training-centeritis. This place is definitely wonderful, but we are so ready to actually do real things! We are also so ready to just be active and go outside!

For some reason, everyone's mothers think that we are starving and so they send us so much food. One of the Sister's mom sends her a box of food every single week, no joke. It's paradise, but we are also getting so fat! 

Yesterday, we were in class eating crackers and one of the Sister's, with her mouth full of gingerbread cookie just says, "I think I would die without food." It doesn't sound very funny when I type it out, but oh my goodness, we were laughing so hard! 

Anyway, that's about it! I love you all and I hope you are all doing well!

Read the scriptures and pray, I have a testimony that it will bring peace into your life! 

Merry Christmas! 

Hyvää Jouluä!!!

Sisar Kwok 

Pictures- 

Sister Powell trying to get over her food coma

Apostles, partings...and Finnish.

HAPPPPYYYYY THANKKKKKSGIIIVVVIIINNNGGG!!!

So I bet you all are wondering why you are receiving this email at like 5 in the morning, well as it turns out, because today is Thursday, and it is Thanksgiving, they just didn't schedule us a p-day. So here we are, walking up at 4:30 to do our laundry/emails/ letter writing. YAY!!!!!

So this week was both a very happy and sad week, first of all, the Hungarians left us, it was like losing 12 older brothers and sisters, it broke my heart! But I know this change is one of the many that are going to come this next year, so "Tuo on lähetysaarnaja elämä" That is the missionary life. 

Anyway, on a happier note... DALLIN H. OAKS CAME TO THE MTC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WAAHHHHHH! It was amazing! I even got to sing for him (plus or minus 500 other missionaries) 

He compared missionaries to pens, a tool that to be constantly willing to work in order to be useful. I laughed because he said, "When I use this pen, it can't tell me that it is too tired, or that because it is P-day it is not going to work, I need my pen to be willing to work when I am" It's so true, the Lord is always going to give us revelation when we are constantly seeking it, it will never be the other way around!

That being said, I learned a lot about patience this week. Patience with others and myself. Sometimes when you are in a classroom with five other very unique and wonderful beings for 11 hours or more, things can get a little tense or even a little irreverent. Being a missionary has definitely helped me see things like Christ would, Christ is the most patient being ever, as I've worked on becoming more Christ-like, I have seen the change that comes with dedication and love toward others. 

Finnish is hard, haha I know I would joke about it before, but it really is. Nevertheless, I can see myself improve EVERY DAY, just not at the speed I would like it to be. It's hard to realize that you have been in the MTC for a whole month and you still can't say a complete sentence grammatically correct to save your life. Also the words are massive, so that doesn't help. 

Fun Finnish Fact:

the word: 

twenty-fifth 

is kahdeskymmenes viisas  

Fun story:

Before they left, Elder Baird, one of the hungarians, decided to do the rainbow challenge, (drinking one cup of every single colored drink, and then one cup of all of them mixed) he literally had 1 SIP left, but he ended up throwing up all over his companion. Haha I just thought that would be fun to share.

Happy Thanksgiving! May your week be full of fun and family!

Nahdan!

  

Tips from an RM to a PM

I got to speak to a really good friend of mine over the phone a couple days ago and he offered me some of the most sincere and beneficial advice.

1. Love your mission from day one.

Somebody told me that they regretted falling in love with their mission only six months in. They said that they wished they had done it from day one. We only get a limited time to be a full time missionary, love it from the moment you get set apart. Start loving your companion the minute you meet them. Love the people and the language the minute your feet touch the ground every morning. 

2. Make mistakes as quickly as possible.

There are some who might discourage this, but the way I see it the sooner you make a mistake the sooner you can learn from it. Don't be too caught up in being perfect, people don't react to perfect. People make connections with imperfection. 

3.Miracles can literally be just one step away.

There will be some days on your mission when you feel like you have talked to everyone and done everything, yet no one will listen to what you have to say. Some days when your feet hurt from walking, your mouth is dry from talking and your mind hurts from worrying. Weeks when the hand of the Lord seems missing and you feel utterly alone. 

Don't stop. 

Because blessings and miracles are really just on the other side of the hill.

The days that you think you can no longer continue are the days when things turn around. 

4. Don't worry about the language

The missionary is only the tool that Heavenly Father uses to find his elect. The Holy Spirit is the true teacher of the gospel. Be humble. Be genuine. Learn to the best of your ability, but don't worry about your capacity to speak the language. Heavenly Father will open the minds of his missionaries to the languages of the world. 

Wow wow Wow wow!!

I leave in 8 days!! HOLY COW!!! I am definitely going into full packing mode right now, the floor of my room is completely covered in store bags filled with everything from skirts to Vaseline. Life is pretty crazy!
        Beside all the craziness, however, I want to talk about tender mercies today. Within these last few weeks I have seen so many tender mercies from the Lord in helping me prepare physically and spiritually for my mission.
         My family has always been pretty financially secure, but we recently just recovered from a rough patch. As I was submitting my papers, I had never really thought about how much money it would take to go on a mission. I mean, I knew the basic amount, but I had never thought of all the little things I would have to buy. Thankfully, I've held a job since 16 yrs old and had saved enough, but I was still worried about not having any fall back money to have when I came back to go to school. That was when I began to see all the miracles in my life. In case many of you don't know, quality winter boots and winter jackets can cost A LOT of money. It was to the point where I was estimating spending up to $350 just for those two items alone. This may not seem like a lot but also factor in that I had to buy new skirts, which can cost $20-$35 each, new shirts, luggage, proselyting shoes (which go for around $70-$80), personal hygiene items and other knick knacks, and you were looking at a large portion of money that took out of my budget for in-country use.
          Despite all these issues (which everybody has, I'm not the only one who struggles to fund a mission.) I put my trust in the Lord that everything would work out. And it did! A lovely sister on facebook had just returned from Estonia with a barely worn pair of boots and was selling them for half the price they would've sold for online.
          While shopping, my mom was able to found a very nice quality down jacket that reached my knees for only TEN DOLLARS (granted it needed some work with a tailor, but still TEN DOLLARS)!! On top of all these blessings, every time I would check my bank account, the amount would be more or less the same as before despite my constant spending.
           This doesn't happen to everyone, but I want to share my testimony that the Lord is mindful of what we NEED. He knows the situation of every single person on this earth and if we are faithful, he will bless us with what he knows is best for us. I'm so excited to serve the people of Finland and to learn how to be a true representative of the Lord! Who knows, maybe next time I write, I'll be in the MTC??

Rakkaduella,
Emily  

Because what's better than being a sister missionary and photo shoots?

Hi everyone!
A really good friend of mine was able to take my mission portraits and I thought it would be fun to share them on this blog! I have less than twenty days until I report to the Provo MTC and I am so stoked! Life has not been exactly easy these past few months but one thing that I have come to know for sure is that our Heavenly Father's love is perfect and everlasting. Many of us struggle with our futures, we're indecisive on which schools to attend, whether or not we should go on a mission or stay home. Let me tell you this, the beauty of this life is in the agency that God has given us. There are some people that will receive specific promptings because He will need them to do certain things either for the good of this church or for their own sake, but the majority of us have the amazing option of sculpting our own lives to match His. Whether you choose to serve a mission or decide to stay home, know that He will bless you in whatever you do as long as you strive to do the right thing.

*photo credit to Nicole Tucker