Monday, April 11, 2011

Onward and Upward

Wow, this past week has been full of blessings and many teaching opportunities. We got a lot accomplished and I feel like the work here is just antsy to explode. I'll go into the details in a second, but first I wanted to thank all of you for your e-mails today!! Eden and Layne get brownie points because they sent pictures. :) I can't believe all of you are commenting on the weather already . . . . it's just BARELY starting to look like Spring will make an entrance here soon. The above zero factor is quite nice. :)

Well, I best get to business . . never have enough time to get everything out in these things . . . .

-Well, EVERY day of last week we got let-in, and received the opportunity to share our unique message with others. This has hardly ever happened on my mission, and I think we were on Cloud 9 all week long. Sure, not all of those people turned into investigators, but we at least left every house\appartment leaving them with a positive experience and a new respect for our church. How did this all happen you ask . . . .? Well, at the beginning of the week I went through all our potential sheets and tracting book looking for people who said we could stop by some other time or something and were eventually forgot about. I made a big list, sorted it out by areas, then throughout the week we have been trying all these people and have met with some big success. I can tell you quickly what I remember about each one:
-A man we talked to in a stairwell let us in and he and his wife listened . . or tried. Turns out, they too have been on missions in their church and were quite satisfied with where they were at. In the end, the man got our phone number because he wanted to call us up one day, when his wife makes Pulla, a delicious Finnish desert, so they can give some to us. He also commented on our clean, neat appearances, saying how in his church, and all around in general, youth are getting way too shabby looking, haha. Score.
-A lady I think I've mentioned before was finally home and let us in, and became a new investigator. This is the one who recently separated from her church and was now 'looking for the truth.' We hope she feels like she has found it! Her little boy was interrupting the whole lesson though . . . he kept wanting me to look at all his toys and would place them on my lap. He even brought over a bunch of Disney movies and would point on the covers and show me who was good and who was bad, haha . . kids.
-Some people I had tracted into before Christmas let us in. This older couple was very nice and listened to what we had to say. Man, did they love to talk though. We were glad to finally get out. haha
-An older lady let us in, probably thinking we were from the Lutheran Church. She kept telling us that she hasn't been coming to church because the benches there are too hard for her legs and she gets uncomfortable, but, rest assured, she is sure to watch a church service on t.v. right there at home. When she found out who we were she was kind of taken back, said she is staying where she's at, told us we were interrupting her time where she has to take her meds, and told us to leave, haha . . . old people.
-A single father let us in. He listened to our message, asked questions and really got into it. In the end though, he couldn't accept it, his beliefs were pretty strange and kept coming up with excuses to not belief in what we do. It was at this point that I felt like Alma and Amulek in the Book of Mormon in their cross with Zeezrom. In that story Zeezrom was shocked because he knew they knew the thoughts and intents of his heart. Well, in those few moments, I felt impressed to do the same and told him how I know he knows there is a God, that this is true, and that although this is a hard road to take, it is the way, and a few other things. The Spirit was strong and it was helping us help this man see the light. In the end he respectfully let us go, but I have a feeling he'll be back soon. The Spirit touched him that day. I hope he never forgets it.
-We got let in by 3 college students! 2 of them became new investigators and the third was already a former investigator from a few years ago apparently. They let us in, gave us soup, croissants, juice and cookies, then listened to our message, haha, a big surprise for us. We're excited, teaching the younger people has always been fun.
-Lastly, a man with a really really nice house let us in. He never really let us get into teaching because he would always interrupt and try to prove us wrong. I finally asked him if he even believed in Moses . . . .he said, No. He didn't even believe in Christ, even though he was in a Christian church. This man is pretty confused if you ask me, we left feeling sorry that he took pride over truth, but, it was a good experience for us all.

Our Italian investigator apparently left to Italy for 10 days without telling us . .sooo . . yeah. And our other investigator, Olavi, got in a skiing accident and busted his knee, so he missed conference by being in the hospital for 7 hours. But, he told us yesterday he has started watching it and has the intent of watching it all the way through. Also, our new investigator from last week is doing well, even accepted baptism if he came to know it is true. He's a big fella, but is truly interested and a good guy. Also, yesterday was Branch Conference here in Kouvola, so the Stake Presidency was there and a few other people. It went very well. There are some amazing members here in Finland.

Well, I'm out of time. I'll leave you with D&C 52:33, which speaks about building on your own foundation and being the best YOU you know how to be. It's something we must all realize, even me. I know I was called of a prophet of God to be with the people in Finland because of something in ME, that someone needs to feel and know as well. I love you all and wish you a happy fresh new week!

Rakkaudella,
Vanhin Watson

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