Moi Moi

Again, thank you for all the e-mails this week. I love hearing from all of you and feeling your love and excitement. Kiitos.

Well, big news . . . . I got the package!! I got a bill in the mail for 45 euros, which I had to pay in cash at the local bank, then the next day, the package came!! Kiitos tosi paljon perheni! Voi että, it is amazing. So many things I was surprised about and very thankful for. It's not every day someone gets 4 deodorant sticks in the mail. :) The mp3 player is sweet and I love all the things you put on it! It has been good to hear the talks from Grandpa's Funeral and all the cool new songs, they are my new favorites. :) Thank you.

Well, I'll start from the farthest back in the week and work my way forward. We saw two old ladies trying to get into out building the other day, so, being the gentlemen and Godly servants that we are, we let them in. A few minutes later while we were having lunch, they knock on our door and we find out that they are J-Dubs!! (Jehovah's Witnesses) Dang it, we let in the J-Dubs into the building, haha. Those mummos are sneaky.

We finally got in contact with a man we have been trying to get back and teach after initially teaching him while tracting. Henri is a college student. He let us in again and we only got to talk for a little bit. He asks really good questions, but we don't know how interested he is yet. We'll see.

We found out that the less active we have been teaching forever has started smoking again after being smoke-free for 2 months. :( He confessed to us, and we caught him the other day, but he really is trying to stop and is still a great guy, just has had a hard life. We read 1 Nephi 8 with him and talked to him about what he likes about the church.

On Thursday we visited Maire, our new investigator who we have only visited once before. We read 3 Nephi 11 with her . . . .well, she read most of it, we listened, :) . . . but when she got to the part of Christ's appearance\announcement\introduction she broke into tears. The Spirit was so strong, AH it was amazing. Missionaries live for these moments. I didn't want to be anywhere else at that time. We had to stop her because she just kept reading and reading and almost went into chapter 12, haha, sweeet. Maire is an older woman, very nice, and hopefully our new progressing investigator. We'll find out in a couple days.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we were in Kuopio. Friday was District Meeting there with President and Sister Brown present, then over the weekend was District Conference . . . kinda like stake conference, but way smaller . . . like one room, haha. But first, District Meeting: was really good. We talked about the 4 things in D+C 4:2: Heart, Might, Mind, and Strength and related them to Ammon's story starting in Alma 17:19. Then President Brown talked about the importance of counseling as said in Proverbs 11:14 and Proverbs 15:22. For the rest of the time he spoke of 'The Very First Lesson' and how they should go with the people we teach and what should be covered. It got us all excited and pumped to get back out and try it.

In District Conference, family was the main subject throughout the meetings. Of course it was all in Finnish, and since about 70 percent of my mission district are 5 months in the country or less, we were trying hard to stay awake and pay attention, haha . . . but it was really good and it was nice seeing some other members from the surrounding areas.

Since we were in Kuopio for a while we split up every once in a while and went out finding. Vanhin Sharp and I contacted into a drunk man who was dressed like Elvis and talked like Fanzi from that one show back in the day. He spoke 5 languages: Finnish, English, Arabic, Russian, and French . . .and was slurring all of them together, haha.

Well, family and friends, it's time to depart till next week. But I'll leave you with my testimony of scriptures. In my mission so far I have read about 800 pages of scripture. My testimony of them has never been stronger. I know that they are God's word and that they are for anyone and everyone who will listen.

STOKED FOR General Conference!!! Because of time difference we see Sat morning session as normal, but evening and Priesthood on Sunday, then we don't get to see Sunday Evening. :(
Happy Easter everyone!!

Rakastan teitä! Moikka.

Vanhin no longer a greenie Watson :) . . . . .

PS Be sure to tell me when Ben J gets his call and where. And can I have Bro Moss's address? kiitos

I'm staying!

Terve Perheni:

Once again I'll probably be all over the place today since I am low on time and have a bunch of random things to say . . . .

We weren't able to get a teach with our other investigators this past week because of their busy schedules, but we almost have another one! Her name is Sari, and we tracted into her the other day and she seemed pretty interested. Since she is younger we are trying to get a member to come with us so we can teach her. We also almost have another investigator, Anja. Vanhin Falk and Vanhin Beard contacted into her while on splits and talked to her for 40 minutes but didn't get any contact information. Yesterday we were walking home and ran into her and talked to her for a little bit. She said she would call us. Really nice lady. Then, we also have another investigator, Maire, who used to be a former investigator years ago but then missionaries were taken out I guess. So we stopped by and now she's our new investigator!

We've been walking a ton this past week, since we've been using the car a lot for traveling. As a result, I am sore and more tired, haha. Oh well. We have walked all over the city . . . . 30 minutes to here, then 40 minutes to there, then there and here and somewhere else, haha . . . .a lot.

We had our last District Meeting for this change in Savonlinna on Wednesday. It was Vanhin Oseens last one before he goes home this week, so it was extra special and fun. He was able to share a departing message and give us new ones some advice. He recalled Alma 58:12-13 and how we must all be 'fixed with a determination . . . and . . .go forth with all our might . . .' just like the Stripling warriors. He is an awesome missionary and we'll miss him. He was one of the first to welcome me in the mission field one of my first nights here. We had an activity where a few of us would sit in a circle and one of us would start teaching the 1st lesson. When a piano key was struck, the next person had to start where they left off and blend it to the next principle. And it continued till the lesson was done. It was really cool and it made us teach simpler and think faster.

After DM we went to visit one of the only 3 castles in Finland, which happened to be in Savonlinna. It was sweet, I got some awesome pictures. We all got sword letter openers at the gift shop afterwards because missionaries get a lot of mail, and it was funny. :)

Random fun stuff:

- an Athiest let us in while tracting, but only wanted to convert us to Athieism, haha

- a drunk and high guy let us in too, it was hilarious, he gave us a hug on the way out

-we saw an old mummo . . .grandma . . .walking in the middle of the road because there was no ice there. Those mummos :P

-no change calls on Saturday, so we are staying in Joensuu! It'll be my 3rd change here

-we had a snowball fight on change call night and nicknamed it 'Winter War II' haha, between Finland, me, and Russia, V. Falk. Which is fitting because he is Russian. Finland won. :)

- I think my package will finally come this week, haha, we'll see

Well family, I gotta go. I'm going to send more pictures, or I'll try to. Thanks for all the e-mails! Love it. And I love you all. Thank you for your prayers and for the updates and love. Moi Moi. Sorry its short and random this week.

Vanhin Watson

ps. Can I get a list of the family birthdays? kiitos :)

Moi Moi

Well, it has been a long week and I can't believe that yesterday was my 5 month mark for my mission . . . woa . . .time flies.

Last week after I e-mailed you we hurried and did our grocery shopping and set out for a small town called Kitee where a member lives and had invited us for lunch and possibly teach her less active granddaughter and non-member husband. Nothing really came out of it but it was a good teach.

We taught our investigator Anne again last week. We finished up the first lesson. It went pretty well, but she was more in a talkative mood and didn't really pay attention and just talked a lot. She is still doing well, but she's out of town so we don't know when we will teach her again.

We almost got another investigator! He basically is one but we couldn't get a return appointment because he didn't know his schedule. His name is Cuong Le. He's Vietnamese but he was born in Finland and knows Finnish. A missionary couple that served here a few years ago taught his parents while he translated for them, he was only 15, but they left and now we found him by tracting. Small world. He's now 18, engaged, haha, and studying to become a chef. He's really nice and let us in and let us talk and teach for a while. He seems very interested and I'm very excited about him. He doesn't know much about God or religion, since he grew up Buddhist but isn't really active in that. He liked everything we said and we gave him a Book of Mormon. We're going to try and visit him again this week.

We met and taught Toni, our less active we teach every week. He was pretty depressed and asked for a blessing, so we gave him one, my companion's first in Finnish. Then we read The Book of Enos together because we sensed he was depressed about his life and the choices he made in his youth. It went pretty good.

We tried to visit a recent convert as of a few years ago, who lived way out on a farm. Her Chinese husband was the only one there and wasn't interested but was very nice. He let us take some pictures with their two huge black Newfoundland Dogs. These dogs were beastly, haha. If they stood up they would be as tall or taller than me. I kept thinking how my sisters would react if one of these dogs came up to them and laughed. :)

On Thursday we and the Savonlinna veljet road-tripped it to Oulu again for Zone Conference, which was amazing. Sister Brown taught about Faith and Peace, The AP's talked about Our Purpose as Missionaries (they had an object lesson to start out where they gave us some objects and asked us to describe it, but I didn't get one, so when they got to me they said describe our Purpose, so I recited the Missionary Purpose on PMG Pg 1, they were surprised I said it because no one else in the other Zones did and I was the first in the mission. Pres Brown gave me a Twix :) ), the Zone Leaders taught about Working with Members, and President Brown talked about a lot of things: like Evaluating ourselves, as even God did in Moses 2:31. Also about how he likes the improvement he is seeing in the mission but related to Pres Hinckley's We Can do Better talk. There were 4 young Finns preparing to go on their missions soon who were in attendance and afterward I spoke with one of them for a long time, through dinner and until he finally had to go. Cool guy. He's serving in the Provo Mission, so look out for a Finn you Provo dwellers. :) So all in all Zone Conference was really good and I learned a lot. It was good to see some other missionaries and have some laughs with them. I got to see 2 of my baby Finns for the first time since the MTC: Vanhin Higginson and Vanhin Marlor. Then 3 of the 8 missionaries who are leaving home this change were in my Zone so we got to say bye to them . . .awesome missionaries: Vanhimmat Kääriä, Oseen, and Holterstrom. (2 of them are Swedes)

On Saturday we trekked back to Joensuu, after a pit stop in Kuopio for Lunch. I drove the 7 hours . . . .long day, haha.

Well, sorry this e-mail is all over the place, not much time here so I kinda have to just type the basics. I still don't have the package yet. I got 2 letters from Helsinki, i think from UPS or Customs or something, telling me I need to come get it and show ID and stuff. I called the mission office and worked it out and they got them to send it to the mission office then they'll call me when it comes and ask if I want them to forward it to me. Still haven't got that call yet, haha. This package has been a legend for 2 and a half months and I still haven't seen it yet, hahahaha. :)

Well, Change Calls are this Saturday. I don't think we are going anywhere, but we'll see.

It was good hearing from all of you! Seth, your Eagle Project sounds like it went amazing, Congrats! Dad, the news about the company is awesome . . .congrats. Gonna have some ski passes for me when I get back? haha Shannon, thanks for the e-mail, glad to hear things are going well. Tell Jeff congrats for me! Lindsey, i couldn't download the picture :( but thanks for writing! Eden, I can't believe the little guy can talk and almost walk, haha, next word you have to work with him on after Dada is Eric. :P Your recent fun and adventures sound sweet. Layne, Baptize that man!! WOOOO!!! Has an awesome name too. :) Like the snow? I've been trying to blow it your way, haha.

Well, I miss you all but I am about the Lords work. It's hard. It's rewarding. It's the best. I know it to be true. Rakastan teitä. Moi.

Vanhin Watson . . . . . sorry if I am forgetting something . . . .I always do . . .:P

Kiire!

Thanks for the e-mails and updates everyone. Good to hear from ya.

Splits was this past week. The Savonlinna elders came to Joensuu this time and got to help us out. I was able to be with my MTC friend Vanhin Behnke, awesome guy. So fun to be around. Anyways, splits was pretty good, the other pair of elders talked with a lady in the street for 40 minutes . . . .but no contact information. :( but she got ours at least. The next day was splits with the Zone Leaders, Vanhin Bailey and Vanhin Olsen. Since they had to drive from Oulu they spent the night too. Vanhin Olsen and I went tracting together and at the last door we were at in the building the lady let us in and we were able to get a teach. Ah, good things always happen on splits. All of us got together and went to go visit the oldest member in Finland, who happens to live in Joensuu in a nursing home. Anne Mustonen. She's 95 and probably one of the funniest old people I've ever met. She was really hard of hearing so I'm pretty sure the whole building heard our conversation with her. We sang her a hymn and got to talk a little. My comp, Elder Falk told her he was 21, and she replied, "Olen kakskymmentakaks," which translates, "I am 22." We all got a laugh out of that. She didn't remember a lot of stuff but she would say something, look confused for a moment, then chuckle and then look confused again. It was pretty fun to be with her. We all enjoyed it. When we were leaving we said,"So on tosi kuuma," which means it's very hot (it was hot in the room), but she thought we said "Sinä olet kuuma," which means "You are hot," so she replied "Kiitos," thank you. hahahahaha Fun Fun.

On Friday we found an old referral that was never contacted that lived near the Russian border. So, my companion being Russian, we went out to contact him. He was busy, so while we were there we drove the extra five minutes and visited the border. I joked with him to not shoot me and run. haha We got some cool pictures though. He wore his Russian flag shirt underneath. We shot a video of me interviewing him on how he feels being so close to home, he stops, thinks, and makes a run for it for the border with me running after him yelling stop! don't do it! hahaha, all staged, but hilarious. I'll try to attach it.

On Saturday we finally found my FIRST investigator. haha, feels weird saying that. I've been reading the newsletter of the missionaries in the stake that Sister Young sends out to us, and everyone else seems to have hundreds. BUT, Finland is different. It's no Brazil or Argentina, but we are one of the better missions in terms of growth. Love it here. Anyway, our new investigator . . . .Anne Outakorpi, used to work for the Lutheran church for 22 years before getting a sickness related to stress. She didn't like her work and blames the sickness on it, so she stopped going there and is basically looking for another church. BOOM, the Mormon boyz are at the door, haha. She seems solid: prays well, thinks the Book of Mormon is a good idea, and so on. We have our return appointment with her tomorrow. Yesssss. Pray for her.

Our P-Day is basically dominated. After finishing this we are driving 2 hours to Kitee to visit a member and possibly teach her friends or husband. Don't know why it's today, both of our schedules are open, haha, oh well.

About the package, still haven't got it. I got a letter from UPS giving me the receipt and invoice and telling me I need to sign for it and show some ID when it arrives in Helsinki, which should be today or tomorrow. The only problem is that I am in Joensuu, haha. I called the mission office and we're trying to work it out. Hopefully they can just sign for it.

Zone Conference this week! That means roadtrip to Oulu on Thursday, sleep in the chapel, Zone Conference on Friday, sleep over again, then road trip back. haha traveling is fun too.

As a parting thought, yesterday for our DA message I shared D&C 58:26-27 about being anxiously engaged. It applies to all of us. The field is white, with snow, already too harvest in Finland. I know it. Gotta go. Rakastan teitä! Moikka

Vanhin Watson

Moikka

Moikka perheni!

Ah, I love e-mail time . . . . even though it flies so fast. I love hearing from all of you. It's so uplifting and I really appreciate it. Well, i'll just start off from where I left off last week. . . . .

Last Monday during our P-Day a small local university class came to the church building and we got to do a small presentation with our Bishop. When I say WE got to do a presentation I mean HE got to do a presentation . . . . he talked the whole time. Ugh, that's the second time he has taken control of a teach with us there and we didn't get to do anything. Even worse, the presentation was boring and he didn't even finish because he talked to much about irrelevant things. I'm telling ya, missionary work is all based off SIMPLE. SHORT. TRUTHS. Not detailed, boring, lectures. One of the students asked an interesting question though, Why does our church use the steeple? haha None of us could answer the question and it's on all of our church buildings. Does anyone know? Never thought about it before. Anyways, after they left the bishop went on to say how stupid these kids are getting these days, saying they didn't know anything and they've been studying for 5 years. He was amazed, we were annoyed and finally got away. Too bad. He's a good guy but i think he is really going mental from being bishop 18 years of his life. In meetings he gets into a routine of things, even his prayers. The ward here struggles with not being optimistic enough. It's sad and its something we are trying to work with them. 600 baptisms have come from Joensuu and we want to bring it back to its former glory.

We got off to a good start this week by being let in 3-4 times from tracting. The first one was the best. A young couple, Timo and Matlena, and their little son. They said they aren't very religious but they are open minded to anything. We were able to give them a Book of Mormon and he gave us their phone number, so this week we are going to call them and try and set up a return appointment. They were really nice and I think could be great potentials. The next let in was an older guy who made us some blueberry-herbal-tea stuff and he talked basically the whole time, so we didn't get to teach much, but he said come back anytime. Finns leave their tvs on when you talk to them, and such was the case with him. It was the Olympics and it was hard to not look, haha. The next let in we didn't actually go in because it was a single younger lady. She didn't get why in the world we couldn't go inside, haha, but she said she'd come to church . . . . . She didn't . . . . so we'll check up on that. Another let in was yesterday, a retired university professor who already had a Book of Mormon, but it was old . . . .it still had the angel Moroni of it, haha, so we gave him another, newer copy. He was very nice and was into religion from what we could see in his apartment. So this past week was pretty good. Success breeds success . . . . .I hope. :) Joensuu needs it.

We also visited some less actives this past week. One of them was baptized, but he doesn't want to be a Mormon, and he didn't when he was baptized either, just wanted to be baptized. . . . . . Kinda weird story there.

We found out that we are now home teachers to some people in the ward, mainly because they need our help and no body does their home teaching. So we've been trying to visit those people too.

This past Friday we had splits in Kuopio. It was a lot of fun. We had a really good schedule planned out but it all fell apart with teaching cancellations, missed buses, both people on one side of the split having both cell phones (so no communication on where the others can pick us up), and forgetting things at the apartment. But, we ended up working things out and did some contacting and tracting. For lunch we found a place that sold amazing pizza for only 2 and a half euros. Before we left we discussed the day over some delicious finnish ice cream. We got back late though, long drive back . . . .2 hours. We do a lot of traveling as you may have noticed, mainly because I have been companions with District Leaders, so they need to have splits, so I tag along, and also we just live in a unique part of the country where transportation to other places by bus or train is hard so we drive a lot. Fun though, I get to see more of the country and more of the missionaries. :)

A few of you mentioned my language training. Yeah, Language School only happens twice in the mission, 6 week mark and 6 month mark. The rest we fend for ourselves. Its nice though. We have language study every morning too for one hour. Kinda hard though, so many things to study that it's hard to choose. But I read the BoM in Finnish and do what I can.

Well, almost out of time, still have to write president. Thanks for sending the package! The mission office will probably give it to me next Zone Conference, which is in 2 weeks, otherwise it costs money. I can't wait to get it!! I've been hearing about it for 2 months now! haha

Seth, good luck with the project, looks like you have a TON of awesome help with it. Jacob, after you learn dada you need to learn Eric. :P Everyone else I wish I could write you personally but NO TIME, literally. Its my comp's B-Day today so we are making cookies and doing whatever he wants to today, haha. Gotta go. Moi. Rakastan teitä!

-Vanhin Watson . . . . . . . . I always feel like I am forgetting something . . . . . . . . .oh well :)