Hey Fam:
Well, it's been quite the long busy week, and, it seems like Spring\Summer are finally here . . . all in the same week. The leaves are finally on the trees, the sun is out and cooking, and there are ice cream booths everywhere. :)
It was Vanhin Ranzenberger's birthday on Tuesday. Turned the big 20 . . . and he's going to be a senior in college when he gets home . . .already . . .something I just found out yesterday. So, our investigator with the baptismal date remembered and we had a teach with her that day. Afterwards she surprised us with cake and a quiche-looking-delicious-thing. It was very nice of her, and our branch president and his wife were there too. That night, by his dad's request and credit card, we treated ourselves to a nice dinner at a place called Amarillos . . . kinda like a mexican grill . . . being americans, we got hamburgers. :) haha It was really good though and a cool place. That night, I bought him another little cake and we ended the day with that.
We had District Meeting on Wednesday . . . my first one where my companion wasn't the DL. We took a 3 hour bus to Kuopio, had a awesome meeting with Pres and Sister Brown there, then hurried and got some pizza, ran to the bus station, and barely caught our bus back to Joensuu. We ate our pizza on the bus probably much to the rest of the passengers' dismay, haha.
The big news is that we finally got bikes!! Our Branch President gave us an old one of his that's been sitting at his mökki, summer cottage, for years. Then we found another used one for a cheap price. Sorry dad, I was tempted to used the credit card and buy a nice one, but something told me 400+ euros was too much, haha. That was only the next cheapest one . . .it gets higher. But the bikes are pretty cool. One is blue with a huge red leather tool basket\pouch on the back . . .might call it Clifford. Then the one I am using is white, might call it Pegasus. Only one brake works and it's pretty old, but it works just fine. :) It's been so nice to finally have bikes. We get around a lot faster, and it beats walking around in the heat. Speaking of which it has been pretty HOT here. Out of nowhere it became summber and boom, 27 degrees celcius . . .I think that's around 80 F. Now that sounds nice right? Well, try it with a backpack and sunday clothes, haha. I have a pretty sweet tan-line where my dress shirt stops, a lot higher than a t-thirt tan line, haha. We've been sweating our guts out, but it's fun. I know the South America\Equator Missions and all that would laugh at us, but try living in -35 for a while then 80 just hits ya. :P
There was a huge market going on by the river this past weekend. It was really crowded, but a cool cultural experience to see. I've taken a lot of pictures lately, but we're e-mailing from the church building because the library is closed. I'll try and send some soon.
We were tracting yesterday night, and at some houses the door is in the backyard, so we walk around and there was a couple having a grill party. They told us to come and join them. We were able to give them a book of mormon and teach a little bit and they even fed us a bit. It was sweet. The wife sounded legit, she said she'd read and everything. :)
We've been doing really well with the younger generation lately. Given away a few Book of Mormons and getting good chats with them. It's a nice change from the mummos, but we still get those too. :) The scheduled baptismal date for our investigator is this Saturday. You can tell she's nervous and wants to hold off, but we've really been working with her hard and hopefully it'll come through! The East coast of Finland doesn't get much baptisms, so this would be huge and get some motivation for everybody else.
Well, time is up already. It was so good reading your e-mails today. Send grandma my love. I'll leave you with a scripture I came across recently in my studies, I can't remember the exact reference, but it's in the Old Testament in the book of Haggai. It says, Consider your ways. It's really something I'm trying to do more these days, evaluate and see how I can do better.
Well, I love you all and I hope you all have a good week in your air-conditioned homes . . . cuz Finland ain't got 'em. Don't know why, haha, but it makes the apartment pretty hot. We have to open all the windows. Well, Moi Moi!!
-Vanhin Watson
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