Mummo plus computer equals entertainment

No heiiiii Everyone. I'm done reading e-mails and now it's a mad dash to write you all as the clock ticks down . . . better get to it . . .

This past week was another week of finding and more finding. It went a lot better though and we found a few promising potential investigators. I just read President Brown's reply to my weekly letter from last week and he gave me the encouragement along the lines of: Well, look at the last week of the Savior's life . . .not exactly a bucket of fun . . .but look at the marvelous blessings that came after\because of it. :) I already feel better. :) It's the moments in missionary work where you've been going at it for hours, faced with rejection and sorrow, when all of a sudden a person pops in that says YES that just makes it all worth it and makes me ready for round 2, just so it'll happen again. Sure, it's not the most efficient thing to do, but the wheat is there, sown in with the tares, and the greatest blessings come only after the trial of our faith. This past week I have kept that in mind and, sure, I can be disappointed that more didn't happen, but I can honestly say I feel good about it. The field is white (with snow) already to harvest (melt), where the fruits of our labors will be shown (sown).

I'll tell you a little bit about our potentials that we got this past week:

-A young mid-aged couple let us in. They noticeably had had a few drinks that night, but they were pretty nice and agreed to let us come back.

-A young woman, probably 20 or so. Her boyfriend was trying to get her to shut the door, but she just pushed him away and she listened, and later agreed to let us come back another time.

-Another young woman, college student, from ITALY (shout out to my sistas!). Wanted to let us in immediately, but all her room-mates were gone leaving her alone and us unable to go in. . . . for now.

-Another young couple. At first glance they didn't seem promising: piercings, quiet, etc. But, they were nice and said we could come back another time.

Then other people who didn't turn into anything or just not interested:

-Just last night we were let in by an Orthodox priest, a pretty high-ranking one from what it seemed. He totally didn't believe us and said we were wrong, but kuitenkin, he was pretty nice and at least gave us an Orthodox-draw-a-cross-on-your-chest-to-bless-us-thingy as we left, haha.

-A man that lives right next to a bus stop we are at a lot let us in. He is studying to become a priest so he knows quite a lot, sen takia he thinks the Book of Mormon is a copy of the Bible and that we're not Christian. . . . .We testified, gave him our respects and left. . . . .some people just need to look outside their bubble.

-We payed a visit to a member who is getting high in the ages and has health problems. That lady though is probably one of my favorites in Finland. She treated us like royalty and she's just so nice you just want to hug her. She sent us off with juice and delicious muffins in our hands. :)

- We had a DA at a members place and their grandkids were over. So for a DA message we talked about the fiery darts of the adversary with a little object lesson, you all should try it. Fill a small bowl with water, sprinkle some pepper on top, put your finger in (all the pepper sticks), then try again (this time with soap on your finger, and this time all the pepper flies away to the adge of the bowl. See what the scriptures can do!! haha, they loved it.

-Oh yeah, I almost forgot . . . .I gave a talk in church yesterday! I talked about the fundamental principles of the church, focusing on The Book of Mormon. If you can recall, in the last General Conference, President Uchtdorf reminded us of simplicity and the things that matter most. He talked about the Vince Lombardi ritual where he held up a football to his players and said, Gentleman . . .THIS is a football, and told them all about it and the game and dimensions and rules. Well, I did the same thing in my talk, only this time with a Book of Mormon. :)

Running out of time, but wanted to tell you all about how recently I picked up my dusty old MTC notes and found some pretty cool stuff. One of them was from a devotional where the speaker told us to 'Live what you pray.' pretty interesting, but awesome way to look at it. Something we all could think about. I love you all more than watching the mummo (grandma) older than time itself, sitting next to me, trying to work a computer. :P Kiitos kaikesta. Olette tehneet paljon minun puolestani, ja arvostan sitä. Siunausta teille! Moi.

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Watson

domination

Well, taas, all the e-mails have been read and the excitement built up from last week has started to build up for next week already as every time I read about you guys the adventures and the news the thrills just never cease! Well, on to my limited time and stories for my week. Actually, it can all be summed up in about one word: DOMINATION.

-ZONE CONF on Tuesday was excellent as usual. Crazy those only happen 4 times a year now. We were uplifted and taught about becoming more 'consecrated missionaries.' We were reminded of our call letters and how we have agreed to Go and Do, and give up everything and go to work. The Finland Helsinki Mission has come a long way in the past 2 years, even the past half year. Our numbers used to hit stock bottom and now, we're playing with the big boys. :) The word is, is that the MTC is now using the Finland mission in some of their meetings as an example to others. :) But, as Pres. Hinckley has said, 'We can do better.' The fine tuning has begun and we are slowly starting to make the Lord's wrok move forward in Finland. Some quotes that I liked were:

''You're TOAST unless you can hear Him during hectic.''

''The possible we can accomplish, the impossible takes a little more time.''

The talk from Pres. Uchtdorf 'Of The Things That Matter Most'

The scripture in Matthew about the rich young man that asked Jesus about how he could obtain eternal life, when he asked 'What lack I yet?' . . .a question we should ask ourselves every day.

. . . much more . .just no time to explain

Well, this week was DOMINATED because we had Zone Conference one day, District meeting in Mikkeli another day, then the Branch put on a Movie Night (for the members to invite friends and stuff. Only 15 or so people were there, but 4 were non members. We watched The Other Side of Heaven), we had a planning meeting, and a bunch of cancelled teaches or no shows. So, it was a bitter-sweet week. A lot of learning, just not much teaching unfortunately. We got let in 3 times . . .but they didn't turn into anything, the last one being extremely drunk and hugging us and stuff, haha . . . .yeeeah. Receiving Spiritual Guidance has been our goal for a long time, it being very important in this work. Let's just say I was doing a lot of soul searching last night when doors were slamming in our faces one after another before a sentence was even uttered. Clearly wwe weren't supposed to be there. Teaches were being cancelled all week long, or they were just falling through. We are looking to a much better week this week, after some planning, prayer, and soul searching.

On a brighter note. I read Helaman 5 this morning and I was just blown away. Let me tell ya, there is more to that chapter than just a scripture mastery in verse 12. Good stuff. Nephi and Lehi gave me some good encouragement.

Another note: O is still progressing to baptism very nicely, he even participated in Priesthood Meeting!! The man is so ready and the branch is anxious to have him as a member.

RANDOM: the cool thing about Europe is the public transportation. We were in Helsinki when we saw our metro was about to leave. So we ran and got on, then I turned around and saw the doors closing and my companion was on the other side!! He stuck his hand in the door and it closed on it and we started moving. I kinda pushed and he pulled and got free and all we could do was laugh and smile as I started zooming away, leaving him on the platform. What was also quite funny was turning around after all this and facing all the Finns that just witnessed the whole thing. haha Alone, I got off on the next stop, and hoped he'd hop on the next metro in a few minutes, which he did and I got on that one, and everything was fine again, haha.

Another transportation story: we ride the bus a lot. On one such occasion a man of quite the body mass index sat down next to me, squooshing me against him and the side of the bus. It was all I could do to prevent myself from laughing out loud . . . I haven't been squooshed in a while.

On that note, I better go. Still pictures to attach . . . but I want to tell you all I love ya. Families are forever. Love ya all more than the almost -30 degree weather we've been having all week.

Happy Birthday Shannon!!!!!!!!!!!! I sent you a letter!

So much more stories to tell, but time is up, a lady is kicking me off, it's her turn.

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Watson

Pictures: me on a Mummo Scooter we found!! haha Next, a group of people outside our window gathering for some type of parade where kids in costumes were throwing candy and everything. Halloween in February? en mä tie haha

Laughs

Hyvää Ystävänpäivää!!!!! That's Finnish for Happy Friends Day . . . yep . .FRIENDS . . .not Valentines . . . .where's the love?!!! I don't know the story behind that one, but I'd veto that one in a second.

It has been another eventful week, probably my best one in Kouvola, and I'd better dive right into it to save time . . .I hope you don't mind the usual list . . . . :P

- We had a great teach with O, our one solid progressor who can be baptized any day now. It was just us 3, the first time that has happened in a while. We really got to know him a lot better and find out where he is at on the road to baptism. The truth is, the commitment scares him . . .eli . . . probably like most converts at first, he is a bit daunted by the responsibilities and the duties that will come by becoming a member. He said he knows he'll be baptized, he just doesn't know when. We testified of the importance of putting his trust in Him, and we promised even greater blessings await him behind the door of baptism. He said that discussion helped him a lot. katsotaan . . . he's close!

- We found 3 new investigators this week . . . .that's a lot for us. :) One is an American that is here playing basketball in Finland as a pro. He played for the University of South Carolina which is a pretty good basketball school in the states. Anyways, he wants religion back in his life and thinks we can help . . .. Oh yes . .yes we can. :) Another new one is a middle aged man who has suffered from depression in his past. Of course, when we told him about the Plan of Salvation, it sparked an interest in his eyes and he told us that if he finds out that life has a purpose, he'll be baptized!! The last new one is a man I knew from Joensuu . . .crazy story. Elder Ranzenberger and I would see this guy in the streets all the time and he just loved talking to us and saying hi. He would literally flip out in excitement, in public, just by seeing us. We ended up giving him a Book of Mormon in the street but could never set up an appointment. Well, here I am in Kouvola with Elder Balls, knocking on doors, when this man shows up behind one of them. I paused, recognized him, he recognized me, did his flip out of excitement thing and let us in! Haha, turns out he just moved to Kouvola. Coincidence . . .I think not. The Lord knows who needs the gospel. He can bring us to the door, but we do the knocking.

-On Saturday we took 2 buses lasting 2 and a half hours to a small city called Loviisa to teach our investigator in the army, who is only available on weekends. We were literally 5 minutes away from arriving when we got a text from him saying he is sick and can't come. Hmmm . . .yeaaah. . .ok . . . dang. We caught the next bus out of there to another city, where we caught a train back to Kouvola so we could set up more teaches and get back to work. So 80 Euros later we arrived back home . . . a little text in the morning might have helped. haha

-We got a referral and went to go contact it in a small city called Voikkaa. . . .poe-dunk lil town . . . I don't think we talked to ONE normal person that whole night . . .and we still didn't find the referral.

-We 'resurrected' 2 former investigators from the 'dead' this week. They had dropped off the charts for a while , but we finally got in contact again and were able to stop by and teach both again. Both have promised they'd read the Book of Mormon so katsotaan . . .

-Well, our teaching pool is filling up and we are being blessed . . .only makes sense that Change Calls are this Saturday . . . already . . .we're hoping we don't get one. . .katsotaan.

-So the branch here found out that my companion plays the piano . . so guess what that means . . he's the pianist in church next Sunday. haha He wants to practice a bit because he only took lessons when he was little, haha.

Well, time flies, almost time to go, this keyboard is dying on me. Zone Conference tomorrow in Helsinki . . . have to get up at 5 to catch our train . . fun fun. District meeting on Friday. The branch is putting on a Movie Night on Friday night where they will be showing The Other Side of Heaven for investigators, friends, and all to see.

Happy Valentine's Day to all . . .eat a sugar cookie in my behalf. As for my love, it reaches out to you all. I love my Savior and this chance I have to represent Him and bring others to His outstretched hands. Remember how much more Our Father in Heaven loves you ALWAYS, more than the cookies and chocolate and hearts. Love ya all more than above zero weather . . .it's -22 right now . . . and emails from family. till next week,

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Watson

p.s. Kiitos Sisar Ballsille for the candy she gave me in her son's package!! :)

p.s.s. My emails won't send to dad or mom lately. . .soooo . . .dunno what's happening there

Moikka Moi

Hei there . . . like most of you said, another week has flown by and here I am again! I cant believe it is February again. So weird.

Well, another week, another e-mail to type out in condensed time. here goes . . . .

- We had splits this past week. Vanhin Karlsson and Vanhin Larson came down from Mikkeli and spent the day with us. Vanhin Karlsson is going home to Sweden in a couple weeks, and he used to serve here in Kouvola, so it was fun for him to be back in his old stomping grounds. Before he and I headed in for the day, we found a playground with a thing that you can get in and it'll spin you around like a washing machine, haha . . .yes, I'll admit it . . .I tried it out. :P Playgrounds these days.

When they caught their train back, they soon realized that they forgot a cake that a member here gave them. Not wanting to let the distance keep them from their cake, we devised a plan. The next morning, Vanhin Balls and I went to the train station, and put the cake in a locker on a train headed to Mikkeli, where the Elders there were waiting to pick it up. We called it Operation Illegal Posti. haha, brilliant, who needs postage. Nah, we won't be doing that again, don't worry.

- This week we had a teach with O and a member couple came along. O is doing quite well, and I feel he is very close to making a decision. He has been investigating for almost a year now and knows a lot. It reminds me of a quote I just found from Pres. Monson, ''The goal of gospel teaching . . .is not to 'pour information' into the minds of the class members . . The aim is to inspire the individual to think about, feel about, and then do something about living gospel principles.'' We thank thee O God for a Prooooophet. :)

He is the nicest guy you'll ever meet and needs to be baptized.

- We taught our other investigator E this week as well. We have always had pretty good teaches with her. This time she was alone, but we were able to get some progress made and continue 'orchestrating the conversion process' as President Brown puts it. She has been reading and even was warming up to the baptism idea. :)

- The rest of our week went something along the lines of . . . . . .FINDING. Lots and lots of FINDING. There were many nights of throbbing feet and exhausted missionaries, but we ended up finding a few people who could be good potentials. We also were able to set up a few teaches for this week with some new people. This next week is looking to be quite eventful, and we are very excited about getting some progress made. It's quite amazing how Dad just so happened to e-mail me this week and talk about Finding. It is something we do a lot in this mission and there is always room to improve, and ideas to make it more exciting. Following the Spirit is vital, or else it is just hours on end of tired feet and lost missionaries. Yes, I'll admit again, we did have some of that this week. But, We are getting a lot better and we are starting to realize how we can do this more EFFECTIVELY, not just EFFICIENTLY. I found a quote from Pres. Uchtdorf from a previous conference that says, ''For what we love determines what we seek. What we seek determines what we think and do. What we think and do determines who we are - and who we will become.'' Applicable to all of us, don't you think? Amazing.

-Well, to end on I'll tell you that we got let in the other day by a drunk mummo . . .grandma. We were able to literally see her go through all the moods possible: Angry, Sad, Happy, Lost, etc. As funny as it was to us, it was also sad to see. The world . . . .EVIL . . . but as Pres. Brown said . . ''it's crammed with Heaven.''

- Yesterday was an especially spiritual day for me . . .I mean it's Sunday, what'd ya expect? I found a space of opportunity and bore my testimony in Fast and Testimony Meeting. And then throughout the day I just had those 'good feelings' and the chills of the Spirit. Love it.

Wells I best be off. I Nephi 19:9. read it. I know the Savior lives. He knows us. He feels for us. He walked every step to Calvery for you, '' . . and He suffereth it.'' Wishing you all a good week and a Terrrrrrrrve from Suomi!

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Watson